If Today Was Your Last Day
by SemperMemor
Summary: What if Hao survived the final battle for the Great Spirits? Would he refuse to compromise and continue with the total annaihalation of humans, or would he somehow be changed by Yoh?
1. The Beginning

**If Today Was Your Last Day**

**Please read before continuing with the story:**

Keep in mind that this is my first fanfiction. I do appreciate constructive criticism, but please don't flame me. This story takes place during and after the defeat of Hao in the Japanese anime version. I want to wait until Takei releases the true manga ending next spring before I write anything for that. I will be writing based on the assumption that you have read about Hao's true past, so if you haven't read _Mappa Douji _yet, I suggest that you go and read it at and buy it when it is released in a store near you. XD Also, I will not and ever will write in fan girl Japanese. The only time I will EVER use that language (but not fan girl style) is when a Japanese character is talking to another character does not speak their language, causing a social barrier that happens in 'normal' life.

Summary: What would happen if Hao survived the final battle for the Great Spirits? Would he refuse compromise and continue his massacre of the human race, or would he somehow be changed by Yoh?

Please read and review and I will give out cookies! ^--^ On a last note, I do not own Hiroyuki Takei's _Shaman King_ or Nickelback's _If Today Was Your Last Day _so please don't sue me.

Pain. All I could feel was absolute, mind-consuming pain. It felt like red hot needles were slowly being drawn across every inch of my body and my insides were becoming my outsides in one agonizing movement. Indescribable heat was blasted into every pore; every opening, so much that I couldn't breathe and each labored breath only worsened its penetration. My mind screamed just as loud as my body did, creating a constant wave of hell, paling in comparison to the actual house of the Devil. Thoughts that weren't even mine raced through my head:

_Oh Great Spirits, it's finally over!_

_He's gone! He's actually GONE!_

_Marco! Our prayers to the good lord were answered! _

_We did it! That arrogant bastard is dead once and for all! Yeah-Ouch! Ren! _

I couldn't even think _myself_; my mind was as paralyzed as my body. Each new invasive thought was like a blast of mana exploding inside my head. I was just about to give in to the approaching dark abyss before I heard something else. Someone else.

_NO!_

And everything went black.

Sorry it's a cliffy, but I really need some sleep, for driver's Ed is in my future. Don't want to kill anyone, so rest is a must. I promise that the next chappie will be longer, much longer. And sorry that Hao had to get hurt, but it's necessary for my story line! I'm a bad girl…So, please review! I want to know what people think!


	2. Window to the Soul

Chapter Two

Window to the Soul

OoOOooOOoo

As Hao charged me in a final all-out attack, teeth bared and seething in rage, I retaliated with the combined efforts of all of the shaman population in the Patch's village. Every movement seemed effortless as if time had somehow stopped. But as I swung my katatana downward to slice the Spirit of Fire, Hao froze for a fraction of a second: he didn't block me. Confused as to why he would do such a thing, I stared him straight in the eye. What looked back at me was something that chilled me to the bone, so much that I froze as well.

Hao's eyes betrayed his enraged expression, his emotions clearly written for all to see. What shocked me wasn't the fact that he was expressing emotions that varied from his usual arrogant and cocky demeanor. It was that fact his eyes, deep pools of black abyss, gave a short window of opportunity into to see what he truly felt. Normally hidden behind a titanium curtain, Hao's emotions shown through in a mixture of loneliness, depression, and most of all _betrayal_. It felt like he could see into the depths of my soul as well, which, in all actuality, he could.

The moment didn't last long as time went back to it's normal pace and the oversoul-infused blade I held slashed though the air before I could stop it from moving. My feet collided with the ground and I released Amidamaru from Harusame. No sooner than I did so, the Spirit of Fire exploded with a massive burst of flames and a sonic boom to rival that of Anna's threat call. A blinding light surrounded me, making it hard to see properly. Immediately, I franticly searched for my brother, refusing to believe that he had perished alongside his oversoul.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash from behind me as something impacted the earth with a tremendous force. I turned around to see a long rut in the ground, stretching for about ten feet in length. With growing trepidation and a rush of relief, my eyes followed it until the ditch's end where Hao lay on his side, covered in what I assumed was soil. Ignoring the warning from Amidamaru, I rushed over to him, my visibility increasing as the Great Spirits' light subsided.

To say the least, he looked like he had seen better days. What I had assumed was only dirt at first glance was in fact his own blood, staining his white poncho with the sheer amount of it. When he collided with the ground, he must have hit his head and blacked out.. Only a faint moan would escape him as I prodded his back. Bruises starting to form and various types of burns mottled Hao's body, almost looking like camouflage. His left shoulder was awkwardly angled, giving him the impression of a ballet dancer, although I knew the analogy was as far from the truth as anything could ever be.

As I rolled him onto his back, Hao moaning in the process, I realized with horror that the blow I had delivered to him did more than just hit the Spirit of Fire. Extending from his collarbone to naval was a massive gash that reminded me of the time when Faust cut open Manta. Luckily, no organs were poking out, only muscle. I took of the now not so white poncho Hao was wearing and carefully secured a makeshift pressure-wrap to staunch the blood flow, trying not to disturb anything vital. Other than the obvious, his pulse was erratic and his breathing was labored: not a good sign by anyone's standards.

As gently as I could, I lifted Hao off of the ground, gaining a weak groan from him as I accidentally touched one of his numerous wounds. At this point, I didn't care what he had previously done; I didn't care whether he deserved my help or not. What only mattered now was saving his life. With the remaining strength I had, I carried my brother bridal style and ran as fast as I could toward the far-off Patch hospital, hoping that it wasn't already too late to save him.


	3. Apology

Chapter Three (Edited)

Apology

Author's note-

OMFG…My computer has been dead since…Kami knows how long. I think December? 0.0 I dunno, but this is extremely late and I sincerely apologize. When my computer died, the original copy of this perished along side it, so I had to recreate the entire thing. Needless to say, it came out better than I thought it would. Yay for brains! I appreciate all who reviewed as well. You guys make my day. Whoa…that sounds cheesy. Before you begin reading this though, please note that some terminology (among other things) and an extremely annoyed pyromaniac are contained within this chapter, the former being provided with a key at the bottom of the (long) chapter.  Don't kill me for any OOC-ness! I love to mess Hao's brain. It's quite funny.

P.S Now that I made a flow chart of how I want the fic to continue, my updates will be more frequent from now on, although the upcoming chapters look kinda long ^^

I do not own _Shaman King_, its characters, or any work by Nickelback. Hao would be a nice present though…

"Blablah," indicates talking.

_Blahblah _indicates thoughts/dream/flashbacks

"_Blablah," _indicates talking in thoughts/dreams/flaskbacks

blahblah indicates thoughts in thoughts/dreams/flashbacks

ooOooOoo

"I still say no."

"But---"

"No. It's not like he's a pet. I refuse to let that man near my onsen."

"But Anna---"

"I said _no_," replied the itako, left hand taken off its usual spot on her hip.

Yoh sighed, admitting defeat. _It just wasn't fair, _he thought,_ why can't she agree with me?_ Arguing with Anna was a lost cause. It was like trying to persuade a dragon to give up its hoard. He winced, imagining the painful blow either of the subjects compared could deliver. He 'bowed out,' as some might say, and turned to get back to his now not-so-pleasant walk, Hao's now-bleak future ruining it. He had tried reasoning with Anna about him, asking if he could come with them back to the Inn, but she had refused. _Oh well, _he thought,_ I'll have to come up with another tactic. _

The last few days had turned into a living nightmare for all. With the Patch Officials' announcement that the shaman fight would be put on hold, the resulting giant crowd of attendees had flown into complete outrage. The remaining X-Law members had vanished abruptly, leaving no clue as to where they had gone. Most believed that they were embarrassed at the fact that Hao had survived the battle. Others thought that they went off to recruit new members, considering that only three people were in their ranks. No one knew for sure.

With nothing to do but wait, the remaining shamans not currently in the Patch Clinic left as well. By the week's end, the only remaining people who lingered in the Patch's village were the Patch themselves, Team Funbari Onsen, Team the Ren, and Anna.

The sudden desertion had served to fuel Anna's goal of gaining the title of queen. She had called them incompetent morons for leaving, saying that by doing so, they were forfeiting their claims to the crown. Although the outburst wasn't official by any Patch means, the leaving shamans silently agreed to it. They had seen what the twins, barely fifteen (with the exception of Hao's mentality, but he was a special case anyway), could do, and had no further desire to fight them. And with that, they had left for their own countries, including Hao's ex-followers.

Softly padding through the numerous streets and alleyways of the ancient city, Yoh meandered to nowhere in particular. His guardian spirit, Amidamaru, floated just behind the wandering teen. The torn and bloodied battle attire that Yoh had once worn was replaced with his normal clothes: bulky wooden sandals, rolled up green jeans, open white shirt, and Matamune's bear claw necklace (1). Characteristic orange headphones adorned his head; Soul Bob blasting catchy music into his ears. Yoh subconsciously bobbed his head to the beat it, barely registering the action. Instead, his mind reeled back toward his older brother as it often had for the past week.

_**Flashback**_

_Yoh ran as fast as his well-trained legs could carry him through the dense, sacred, forest. Hao, carried bridal style in his arms, felt weightless. No doubt the pinnacle of Anna's training; objects he picked up, along with outstanding endurance, lost their mass in his hands. Even though his brother was at most his own weight, Yoh barely noticed. He had run straight past his comrades and fiancé. Shocked and angry glances were thrown at him, but he ignored them all. His only goal was to keep moving._

_He never once stopped to rest or catch his breath. Hao's life was literally in his hands and he'd be damned if he'd waste it. Sure, his brother had committed unforgivable acts, but he had to have had a motive. _The whole 'annihilation of all humans' had to have had its roots somewhere_, he reasoned. But there was also something else. He had seen it in Hao's eyes as he paused during the fight. A something else he was determined to find out. Beside, he had never truly believed that the onmyoji was a bad person. Yoh told himself, _only decent people could see spirits, right?

_The only sounds in the sacred forest were the pounding of his own feet and the measured tempo of his breathing. Occasionally, Hao would moan if Yoh stumbled, which only made the situation at hand more pressing. The chest wound's bleeding had slowed considerably, but not entirely. Flying to the village would have been the best option, but Yoh's mana (2) was completely spent up along with everyone else's. It was not as if they would be willing to help anyway._

Just a little bit further,_ he kept telling himself. For once, he was glad that Hao couldn't hear his thoughts. He knew his brother hated pity more than anything, but he couldn't help himself. At least not with his condition deteriorating so rapidly._

_Eventually, the lush green forest thinned out to face a massive sandy cliff wall. Pounding up the steps etched into it, Yoh burst through the Patch chambers and out through the other tunnel. Bewildered officials and a frozen Mikihisa parted like the red sea before him; they were too shocked to stop his mad dash._

_Barely five minutes later saw Yoh through the glass doors of the Patch Clinic. The first floor was large waiting room with a nurse's station in the far corner: devoid of life save a single nurse, whose eyes were glued to the live video feed of the Great Spirits (3). Purposefully, he walked over to her, shifting Hao's weight to his left side and tapping her with his right hand in the process. Turning, she started to ask what was the matter, apparently annoyed at being interrupted._

"How may I help yo---aaah," _the woman screamed as her eyes drifted from Yoh to Hao. Her faced drained of its natural tanned completion to stark white. Stuttering in broken English, she suddenly sprang up from her seat and ran up the conveniently placed stairwell._

_Meanwhile, Yoh spotted an empty gurney up against the whitewashed wall to his left. As carefully as he could, he placed Hao's limp body on it, trying to avoid twisting any limbs. Yoh wasn't anywhere remotely near a doctor, but he could tell that if his twin didn't get help soon, he probably wouldn't make it. Like Manta was all those months ago when Faust 'played,' with him (he flinched at the mere thought), Hao's skin had dulled to the color of wax paper and was coated in cold sweat. His erratic breathing had become barely audible; a random Morse code of soft gasps. Even unconscious, his face was screwed up in pain._

_Just as Yoh was about to run up the stairs for help, the loud DING! of an elevator echoed from behind, followed by small footsteps. He turned to face them and was greeted by the sight of two women. The dark-haired nurse from before had returned, although obviously reluctant and twitchy, and stood behind the other. The other woman, a doctor judging by the white lab coat she wore, stopped a few feet away. She, however only stared incredulously with hard blue eyes at Hao's body, not showing any signs or terror. Slowly, the doctor directed her gaze toward Yoh._

"Hello. Yoh must be Yoh. Is that right," _she questioned in English with an accent that Yoh couldn't place._

"Yes," _the teen in question replied, "_Can you help him?"

"No," _the nurse interjected shakily, "_Take him outside. At once!"

_The doctor, a petite woman a good deal smaller than the nurse, suddenly rounded on her._

"I don't recall ever giving that order, _Heather._ Please, be quiet," _she then turned back to face Yoh and offered him her hand, which he took awkwardly (4)._ "I'm sorry about that. She never thinks things through half the time," _she said sheepishly,_ "but I'm Dr. Clancy (5), senior resident of the clinic. As for helping your…brother, I'll try. But from what I can see from here, I can't make any promises."

"Sank you," _Yoh replied in his limited English, a flood of relief overtaking his senses_.

"So, if you don't mind, please excuse me," _the doctor said, motioning in Hao's general direction. Yoh quickly moved out of the way while she wipped out a pager, pressed a few buttons, and blasted into complex, rapid-fire English with Nurse Heather, who reluctantly sprang back to life and started to push the gurney toward the elevator._

_Yoh, finally feeling the effects of the fight and sprint to the hospital, sank into one of the waiting room's chairs. Not usually one to worry, he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. _He'll be fine_, he told himself,_ he's probably lived through worse. _With those thoughts in mind, Yoh drifted off into a restless sleep._

_ooOooOoo_

"Yoh."

"Fiv…mor....min…..na."

"Yoh. Wake up," _the voice persisted_.

"Go….way."

"Fine, but you've left me no choice."

_SMACK!_

"I didn't mix the laundry colors! I swear! It was Horo-Horo," _screamed the Japanese youth as he jolted into the living world._

_The first thing Yoh noticed, aside from the lancing pain in his right cheek, was a rather smug-looking Anna above him. Horo-Horo stood further back next to Ren, an absolutely horrified look on his face. Manta also stood nearby, as well as the last three X-Law members (who, unlike all other people assembled, looked livid with rage). _Come to think of it,the entire room was filled with shamans, _he thought. _

_Of course, Yoh took this chance to wonder exactly _why _all these people were here. He never really did have a great memory after he woke up. Intently looking at each person,_ _tried to figure who was missing. Thankfully, all of his friends were accounted for, minus the officials, and most were adorned with various splints and bandages. _

_"_No one has died, thankfully, unless you count the people who perished before they came to this hospital," _Dr. Clancy said as she appeared out of thin air to Anna's left._

_"_OK, then how long was I ou---Wait. You speak Japanese," _Yoh blatantly asked, much to the relief of his friends. They had started to think Yoh had died in his sleep._

"Yes, I do. My job requires it, seeing as the majority of this year's contestants speak it. And to answer your first question, I think its been…four hours since I last saw you, " she said, glancing at her watch," but more importantly, are you sure you haven't forgotten something. Or _someone _perhaps_?"_

_His mind drew a blank. _Who? What? When she last saw me---_ (and suddenly, the light in his head came on for the first time in a long time) _Oh god! "Hao," _the teen shrieked, gaining a few various laughs and snorts from the assembled crowd._

"Ah, so you prove your fiancé wrong. You do have a brain under those headphones," _the doctor laughed_," Yes, he'll live, but he'll be pretty out of it for a drugs we gave him will keep him in a medically induced coma for a few days, if not a week. He has a concussion, which we'll worry about later when he wakes up. Hao's left shoulder was completely dislocated, so that will be in a sling for at least a month. His chest wound is stitched up and will hopefully heal up nicely. Our only real concern now is infection, so we have and will continue to pump his veins with antibiotics. Other than that, I'm glad you got him here when you did. He went into shock from the loss of blood and would have died within ten minutes without treatment," _she finished, flashing white teeth._

"I can't thank you enough," _Yoh replied, sighing._

"Don't mention it. Just doin' my job," _she said, backing away_, " Although thanking me is the least of your priorities now_." And with that, she ran off._ Strange_, Yoh thought._

_"_Wait! What do you mea---!"

_SMACK!_

_"_She's right, slacker. I help _you_ by giving _you_ all of _my mana_, and _you _thank _HER," seethed the okami (6)._

_"_But Anna I---"

"Don't you _dare_ 'but Anna,' me. Come tomorrow, you're back to training bright and early. Anyone who defends him will suffer the same fate."

_She wasn't kidding._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Yoh let his shoulders droop at that last part. With the fight on hold, Anna hadn't allowed him to fall behind. Even by one day.

At some point in time, his feet must have decided to get minds of their own, for he was now standing outside the immense hospital. The fact that it was second in size only to the stadium didn't help the awe he felt each time he entered it. As far as technology went, the clinic was the top of the line. Its power came from the doctors themselves, each supplying mana into a large energy reserve in the basement. Because the doctors seldom fought, all of their excess mana was channeled into the power supply. It was also very efficient, as a single person could power all the machines and lighting for a week and still have enough energy to treat patients (they preferred to use more traditional means of healing, as the mana-treated patients often didn't heal quite as well than if the body healed naturally). The result was a biologically safe establishment with no emissions. Very clean, Faust pronounced after asking the doctors endless questions on how the building worked. Anna had even taken a liking to it, saying that she might switch the onsen's power supply to one more like the hospital's internal mechanism (7).

After pausing outside the immense five-story structure, Yoh entered through the hydraulic glass doors. Like his first visit here (minus the irritable nurse), it was completely barren on the first floor. He walked over to elavevator, went inside, pressed the third floor button, and prepared himself for the sensory overload that was sure to come.

Just as he thought, when the doors finally opened again, he was blasted into a loud hallway rivaling that of a Tokyo subway station. Doctors and nurses alike scrambled from room to room, ICU (8) to medical stations, intent on their objectives. True, it wasn't anywhere near as hectic as it was just after the fight, but it was still busy as all hell. The fact that this was considered the main floor of the hospital, mostly due to the ICU and numerous patient rooms, didn't help with the noise level.

Down the hallway to his right, Ryu's voice permeated through one of the many doors. Yoh recognized Dr. Clancy's accented Japanese floating just after his. He decided to investigate.

Yoh proceeded over to them, rounded through the door, and was met by the sight of a rather starry-eyed Ryu trying to woo his petite doctor. She however, wasn't buying it. To either side of Ryu's bed (and wisely separated), lay Horo-Horo and Ren. While Yoh was contemplating how to proceed, Amidamaru jumped into conversation with Bason, their dialects changing into one Yoh couldn't follow too well.

"Please madam, accept my offer of dinner and a walk on the beach," Ryu pleaded, the stars in his eyes changing to hearts, "Your eyes are like the beautiful raging waters off the coast of your home country."

The doctor looked like she had dealt with this before, and probably had.

"Ryu, how many times do I have to tell you? There aren't any beaches here. We're landlocked, sweetheart. Beside, how would you know what the coasts of Ireland are like? I doubt you've ever been there. Anyway, I can't. You're eighteen. I'm twenty-nine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to."

Ryu's hair deflated, earning him a laugh from Horokeu (9) and words of consolation from Yoh. Upon hearing his voice, all turned to Yoh with loud exclamations of Yoh-kun, danna, and a shut-up from Ren, who had previously been sleeping.

"Hey guys. How's it going?"

"Same old, same old," replied Horo-Horo," How's Anna?"

"Umm…well…Anna, I guess," He said, flashing a grin and turning to the retreating Dr. Clancy.

"How's Hao been? I haven't visited him since last night."

"Still hasn't waken up, I'm afraid, but his brainwaves are getting stronger. Hopefully, he'll wake up within the next day or so. You're welcome to visit him if you want," she offered as she continued walking away. Yoh muttered a disappointed 'bye,' to her retreating form. He had hoped that Hao had woken up, but realized that it was probably for the better that he hadn't without him being there. No one was sure how he would react once awake.

"Hey danna? Are you okay?'

"Whaa," Yoh stammered. He wasn't aware that he had started daydreaming again.

"I'm glad he hasn't changed," Horo-Horo sighed, exasperated," It's a wonder he's still on his feet though. No broken bone like the rest of us." Although Ren didn't break anything, none had questioned his demand at a hospital bed. He hated the fact that he was considered an 'invalid,' but he was glad that Faust had patched him up quickly. Otherwise, he'd be in the same boat as Hao.

"Danna…you're doing it again," Ryu warned.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." In truth, he really was. Yoh, manta, and Anna were the only ones who had escaped unscathed during the fight, ignoring the small bruises and scratches. With that, he bid adieu and turned in the direction of the ICU.

The people who had gotten the worst injuries had landed themselves beds in this unit. Among them were Mikihisa (who had just this morning disappeared) Silva, Kalim, Nichrome, and Hao, although the last two were under close guard by the remaining priests (9). More as a matter of safety than privacy, Hao had been given his own room a little further down the hall.

Two burley priests, both of whom had stepped aside as he approached, once Yoh had reached it, guarded Hao's room. Everyone in the village knew Yoh, so all the guards had to do for security was check his shadow (10). No shadow meant he was an oversoul, so it was easy to distinguish the fake from the genuine article. Someone, presumably the X-Laws, had already tried to get in by disguising as Yoh, but the guards quickly destroyed the oversoul and no one had tried it again.

Inside the room, though, it was ominously quiet. Monitors and an EKG (11) machine beeped softly. The room was sparse and plain. Light green walls, a small window, a bathroom, a single chair, and nightstand were the extent of it. On the right side, there was a bed were Hao lay asleep. Numerous IV tubes and wires connected him to the machines. The oxygen mask he had previously worn was gone.

Hao's entire being looked drained. Of course, he was much better than he was upon arriving. His skin still looked clammy, but the color had returned to his cheeks. His left should was wrapped in a sling (unbroken, thankfully), and the rest of his body was wrapped in various bandages.

Yoh sat down on the edge of the small bed, staring intently at the machine monitors. Because he had visited so often, the doctors finally taught him how to distinguish the many vital readings.

"The doctor was right," he noted aloud," His waves have definitely picked up. But," he started to say, leaning in closer to the EKG machine," his pulse is getting stronger as well. Maybe he will wake up today." He glanced back toward the unconscious pyro. _But then again…he doesn't look like he could do much harm anyway, _the younger twin mused.

Yoh pressed the pager on the nightstand. He wanted to be _absolutely _sure that Dr. Clancy knew that Hao's pulse was rising steadily. Somehow, he doubted it.

ooOooOoo

Being unconscious is not a pleasant experience. After suffering the pain of a traumatic incident, the person in question is treated to a high-definition, surround-sound theater, minus the massive screen. Sound frequencies are often enhanced, giving the person the ability to hear the things around their physical body without the power to respond (12). A fact that a certain one thousand year old pyromaniac refused to accept.

He had tried multiple times to wake up, each attempt ending in a mental backlash with the same unsatisfying outcome. Hao quickly became bored with his ordeal, although he was somewhat grateful that he couldn't feel anything. Unlike most unconscious people, Hao knew from the beginning that he wasn't dead. No way Jose. He just didn't get to have _that _luxury. He could hear people talking around him. Some woman, possibly Irish or Scottish, had the balls to touch him, claiming that she was his 'doctor.' His _little brother_ was often around as well, but he never did anything as outrageous as the other woman had. Unfortunately, Hao could still hear their minds. How he hated their pity. Ugh…human emotions. A waste of time and energy if you asked him.

Like he mentioned earlier, the great onmyôji was bored to tears. He couldn't wake up by sheer will power, so he started to concoct a plan. It turned out quite ingenious, albeit simple. One didn't get the title of greatest shaman in the world without some devious thinking involved. Presumably, that Irish female had drugged him up with some sedative concoction to keep him out for the time being. The only way to get her to stop doing, Hao reasoned, so was to make her absolutely sure that he wouldn't wake up. And to accomplish that, he would have to keep his brainwaves at a minimum, mimicking that of a truly sedated person. In short, Hao would have to stop thinking.

After a few days (Or it seemed like it. One lost track of time in limbo), it began to work. The doctor started to ease up on the sedatives, claiming to Yoh that he would die if his already weak brain signals were overloaded. Fools. How he would have laughed at their insolence and tiny minds. Thereafter, Hao gradually began to get the feeling back into his limbs. It wasn't a pleasant experience by any means. The pain was horrendous, but he soon realized that that too was kept in check by some human painkiller. Eventually, Hao had gained back control over his entire body, and he noticed that the ever-present EKG beeping had quickened. _Great, _he thought_, now that girl will know I'm awake. Well…sort of._ Unfortunately for him, his twin had decided to choose this moment to enter his room.

The teen's thoughts entered his mind at once, although they weren't well formed. Apparently, Hao realized with a mental groan, Yoh had noticed the change in his pulse. _Oh well, _Hao sighed_, let's give him a nice thank-you present for all of his blasted efforts. Time to wake UP!_

ooOooOoo

All of a sudden, and without absolutely any warning whatsoever, Hao's once-limp hand had balled into a fist and had collided forcefully with the side of Yoh's head. The effect was dramatic. Yoh squeaked, in a very unman like fashion, and fell off the bed. Hao's torso loomed over him, flustered and gasping at the effort of moving too quickly.

In a mad dash, Dr. Clancy had run from one side of the hospital to the other in less than ten seconds. She could have just teleported, but she was too distracted with the fact that someone had paged her from Hao's room. Yoh, she guessed, was the culprit, but she didn't care.

The Ireland native pushed past the priests and threw herself into the room in a football-like tackle. Just as she had predicted, Hao was awake and had dedicated his first act in the living world to his confused twin, who lay on the floor clutching his head.

"What the hell is going in here," she demanded, for once loosing her patient demeanor," You," she commanded, pointing at the exhausted onmyôji," Lie back down this instant! You are in no condition to attack anyone, You," pointing at the startled younger twin on the floor, "sit on the floor by the door. And you two," she turned around to face the bewildered patch, "Leave. Now. I've got this under control." The Patch quickly departed, unwilling to face the tiny she-devil. "Good, now let's get a look at you," the doctor said in Hao's direction.

Hao, not ever the one to take orders, complied because he was simply too tired to do anything else. But that didn't mean he had to be nice about it.

"Yoh. Leave," he croaked, surprising himself at the sound of his voice.

"But I don---"

"I hate to admit it," the doctor interjected," but he's right. You should go. I want to talk to him alone anyway."

"But---"

"Go," the Irish commanded, sounding more like Anna every minute. No room to maneuver. "If you want, you can get another bag of antibiotics for me. Ask Heather, she'll know which one I mean," she offered. Yoh, believing he just had no luck at all today, left without another word.

"Now," the woman began, turning back to her patient, "do you have anything you'd like to say before I continue?"

He did, in fact, have an eclectic variety of insults at his disposal he wanted to spew at the doctor, but the growing nausea in the pit of his stomach left him with his mouth clamped shut. Dreadfully annoying.

"Ah, the wonderful side effects of medicinal substances (13), Don't worry, it'll go away eventually. If you haven't figured it out already, and I'm positive you have, I am your doctor for the duration of your stay here. All other medical staff refuse to enter this room, so I guess you're stuck with me for a month or so." She sat down on the sole chair next to him and offered her hand. "Dr. Clancy, permanent pain in your ass. I'm glad to finally get to meet the infamous Asakura Hao."

Unlike his twin, Hao refused the silly European gesture. Her Irish back talk however, was rather interesting to the pyro, not at all unlike his future sister-in-law. It wasn't everyday someone talked to him like this. If she wanted a battle of wits, she would get one. 'Game on,' as one of his twin's companions would say. He finished that thought with a characteristic smirk.

The doctor pulled out a clipboard from nowhere and held it poised on her lap.

"Alright. I'm going to assume you remember your fall from the sky. Your brother informed me of what happened after that. So, apparently, yo---"

"I know what happened to me. I could hear your medical chatter all week long as well as your annoying thoughts," Hao interrupted, switching from a smirk to a dazzling, mocking, smile.

"Ah! He speaks. Good to see that your brain is functioning properly," she said as she scratched something off on her clipboard. "But, fortunately enough for me, your twin taught me how to shield what I wanted from you. That ability of yours isn't as fool-proof as you'd like to think (14)." She turned to look him straight in the eye, "I figured out your little scheme through methods of my own and decided to play along. You needed to wake up eventually, so, naturally, the best time to do so would have been after the X-Laws vanished. Despite what you may think, Yoh wanted them to think you were in a coma, so, that when they left, they would think to were as good as dead. As for your actual condition, you suffered a mild concussion, stage three cardiac shock, massive blood loss, second degree burns, bruises of various colors and sizes, a dislocated shoulder, and to top it all off, a laceration the size of a small dog on your chest and abdomen," she announced matter-of-factly.

_Not only is she bold, she's intelligent as well. Time to end that, _the onmyôji mused. "And despite what _you _may think _my dear_, I have no intention of thanking my _little brother_ for his deeds. I would rather have died than have lived out the rest of this life in his twin's body, cursed to endure the embarrassment of loosing to a mere _child_."

"That's a shame," Dr. Clancy said while scribbling away at her paperwork. "I was under the impression that he actually cared for your well being, although the I know the feeling isn't mutual. Which reminds me: I was watching your fight the other day, and it seemed to me that you actually _paused_ in your attempt to incinerate Yoh's soul and all other worldly attachments to his name. Why is that?"

For the first time in his one thousand years of living and spiritual wandering (15), Asakura Hao was utterly at a loss for words.

"Well," the doctor ended as Yoh walked in with Hao's meds, "I guess your mentality is fine." She took the bag from Yoh and swapped it with the empty one attached to an I.V. tube. "These antibiotics will fend off any bacteria in your body. You'll probably get nauseous, but that's normal. Your room is equipped with it's own bathroom. Try to get some sleep and drink water; you'll feel better. The nurse button is on your left side…hmm…we'll have to move it so you can reach it without using your left arm," she added after looking at Hao's blank face. "If you need anything, like painkillers for example, ask for Heather. She needs the experience," she winked at Yoh." And if you need _me, _my pager button in on the nightstand to your right. I'll be back every two hours for the next twenty-four to make sure you don't fall into a real coma or experience delayed brain damage, Other than that…" she paused, thinking over their time together," no more boxing and think over my question, please. I look forward to hearing your response," she ended, patting Hao on the shoulder. And with that, the Irish shaman left, leaving the twins alone.

Neither of them spoke for a while. The steady silence proved to relax the elder of the two, settling himself deeper into the soft pillows of his bed and, ignoring his younger companion, started to drift off. Eventually, Yoh gathered up the courage to speak up.

"I don't suppose you'll accept an apology?"

Hao, his eyes already closed and long awaited sleep beckoning, took his time in replying. Just before he was truly out, he softly answered, barely above a whisper and laced with an emotion Yoh couldn't quite recognize.

"No," and then he was gone.

ooOooOoo

Well? ^-^ I absolutely _loved_ writing as Hao, which only added to my euphoria at realizing that I hand-wrote this entire chapter that came out to a whopping twenty-one pages (front and back). My hand kills! I hope you all liked my attempts at humor. Now, you all should press that little button on the bottom left corner of the page the says 'review."  The next chapter will be a while, but it'll be worth the wait. I promise!

Key Of Goodness

Yoh's near-claw necklace was given to him in the manga by the first Hao's cat-spirit named Matamune. Go look him up! He's an awesome cat.

Mana is the same as furiyoku. Each version of the anime has different names for it.

The Great Spirit in the English anime is the Great Spirits in the original Japanese version. Each spirit (five in total) was named after an 'element' i.e. Hao's Spirit of Fire.

Hand shaking is a western custom. Japanese bow instead. Poor Yoh is confused. 

Dr. Clancy is my future title, as I'm going to college for my vet license. My friend challenged me to put myself as a character in this story, and I think she came out OK…maybe. Damn Irish genes. I also gave her clairvoyant powers, but they aren't mentioned in this chapter. They always want to talk for themselves.

Anna is often referred to as 'okami,' although I never once heard it in the dubbed anime. I think it's only the Japanese manga.

I made this up. I have no idea if this building could exist in the shaman world.

ICU stands for intensive care unit. All the near-death peeps go there. 

Horo-Horo's real name is Horokeu.

This is true in the manga. Orversouls don't have shadows.

EKG stands for electrocardiogram machine. It takes the electrical current the heart makes in each pulse and converts it into a sort of line graph.

I'm not sure if this is the case for everyone, but it happened to me twice. Once from running into a car, and the other time was when I had surgery and I was given anesthesia.

Ugh…it's true. I hate powerful antibiotics when this happens.

This really happened in the manga. Yoh was talking to Hao in a café at one point and he decided to conduct an experiment on him. He actually found a way around Hao's special mind skills.

Hao was actually in Hell during the time between his reincarnations. He was wandering…sort of…not really…


	4. A Modest Proposal? I Think Not!

Chapter Four

A Modest Proposal? I Think Not!

A/N:

I guess this is more than just a little late…hehe. DX I promised this to be out, oh I don't know, maybe a month ago? This has been written for a while, but I never really got around to typing it up. I'm obviously lazy, but I've been hesitant to finish this because I don't really know how in-character everybody's favorite fire shaman is. I have such respect and adoration for him that I don't know if I'm doing his character any justice. It's harder than it seems. Never mind about my problems! *whacks self* I'm a hypochondriac, so I fret about it when it's not even published yet. Maybe a beta reader will do me some good, although I'm already qualified to be one…

PatriciaDreams notified me that the previous chapter wasn't showing up. I had posted it nearly two months ago, and I edited it the day after. I guess it specializes in disappearing acts… So, if this or any other chapter behaves strangely, please PM me so I can attempt to fix it. 

Btw, I want to make something clear. I hate the anime. The only good thing about it, in my opinion of course, is Hao's Japanese voice actress (or seiyu, depending upon your language of choice). So, I propose that it deserves an ending that serves it at least some justice. Unfortunately, both anime and manga have sort of blended into one in my head, and thus, I have decided to make this story a blend as well. Just bear with me. It will make sense eventually. I hope.

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm trying to make the Hao in this story more like his manga counter-part. He's just better in the books anyway and is much rounder as a character. In my opinion…He's going to hate me for what I have in store for him. *dies*

Enough of my ramble. So, without further adieu, I give you the fourth chapter. :D

I do not own _Shaman King,_ its artwork, or any characters affiliated with the series, nor do I own any work by Nickelback. I do, however, own the she-doctor in this story.

ooOooOoo

* * *

"Are you serious Silva?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"No, not really."

"Then I guess you answered your own question. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Goldva's meeting. She only let me out to tell you. And Yoh?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to tell Anna?"

"No. It's best if we have as few casualties as possible. Thanks anyway Silva. Good luck."

"You're right. Well, I'm off. Bye Yoh! See you later."

"Bye," the young shaman glumly replied after the retreating Priest. Today just wasn't looking so good for him, as far as punishment went. Anna was going to kill him for sure. _Poor Manta,_ he thought, _who would talk to him at school now?_

As was usual, Yoh was thinking of others when his own life was in danger. The danger of course, wasn't his own doing, but Anna would certainly blame him for it. Instead of being merely postponed, the Shaman Fight had been cancelled until the Great Spirit had decided otherwise. No one knew when that would be, not even the Priests. So, to preserve the 'sanctity' of the ancient village, all non-Patch were being evacuated. Silva had claimed it was a monetary issue, which was half the problem, but it was mostly due to the impatientness of the natives (1). Until all shaman fight members and affiliated personnel were travel-worthy (Hao being the only one left declared as an invalid, much to his resentment), all of them were being 'stored' in the hospital. Only few knew of this though. The Priests were informing the rest.

Yoh was already in the clinic, and was naturally the first to be notified, seeing as he was dubbed the unofficial leader of the remaining shamans by popular vote. That, and the fact that the hospital was the closest building to the Priest's private meeting chambers.

Wandering through the halls had become a recent obsession of his. It served to occupy his mind and provide a peaceful and curious outlet for him to explore. The hospital was full of departments, each of which had it's own equipment and staff. The complex medical chatter the doctors often spoke were beyond his comprehension, but it was funny to watch them argue at each other like little kids. Dr. Clancy accompanied him once in a while when on breaks to translate what they were saying, but he rarely listened. Music was a sweeter release from the troubles of the day, and the doctor always continued to talk to him as if she were having a conversation. The non-violent company was welcomed.

Yoh often wandered around when not with Hao or Anna, both of whom had taken to making it their life's purpose to insult him. Yoh just blamed Anna's mood swings on PMS, not even daring to say that to her face. Hao's, however, were rooted in a different matter entirely.

Upon waking up, albeit painfully in Yoh's case, the pyro was thrown into situations he normally wouldn't be in. The primary one being physical pain. Hao hid it well, despite being under the eagle eye of doctor. He would refuse to ask for painkillers, so when he started to become rather grouchy, the doctor would give him morphine. He wouldn't refuse the drugs, so she took it as a sign that he was 'happily' sedated. Occasionally, he would blanch or gasp when a careless nurse touched his shoulder or stomach just a _little_ too hard when putting on fresh bandages. The woman, or the rare male nurse, would scramble from the room nearly in tears after receiving a loud _fuck you! _and accompanying death threat. Yoh always apologized for his brother to them, but they never returned to Hao's room. Of course, Hao would allow himself a smug grin at learning this particular knowledge.

The second and less frequent situation happened to be nausea. Unlike the first, this wasn't as easy to mask from his only two visitors. Not even Yoh wanted to be near him when his face took on an even whiter pallor than it had been since his admittance to the hospital. Hao had threatened on multiple accounts to use vomit as a weapon, so his twin abruptly left the room when he moaned or clamped a hand over his mouth.

Aside from the infrequent shouts of 'fuck you,' 'bastard,' or 'asshole,' Hao barely spoke to anyone. Yoh guessed that he did to his doctor, but he doubted that it was anything heart-to-heart. Three weeks had gone by and neither of them had brought up their first conversation after the fight, but, in Yoh's opinion, that was about to change.

The headphone-adorned youth walked past the now-barren ICU into the hallways beyond. Hao had been moved shortly after stabilizing into a more secluded area of the hospital. Technically, he was already out of everyone's sight, but the move was more of a matter of avoiding hysteria to the rest of the hospital's patients, according to Patch Chief Goldva. It certainly was out of the way, as Yoh had to walk from the north side of the first floor to the opposite end three flights up. The journey only seemed longer when accompanied by confusing turns and randomly placed hallways. Not a problem to learn when one had too much free time hiding from a certain fiancé.

The warm colors of morning sunlight were just beginning to pour itself through the windows at the end of the long hallway when Yoh finally reached the entrance to Hao's room. The Priests that had previously barred the door were absent. They had been dismissed by Dr. Clancy, who had deemed her patient harmless. She had assumed that because his mana was drained from the fight was the reason why he had not tried to harm anyone, spiritually at least. He hadn't said anything to anyone about it, and so it had gone unnoticed for a while. Only by mere chance the doctor caught Hao in the act of failing to heal himself. Although Yoh knew it was probably for the better, he still felt sorry for him.

As silently as he could (one could never know when his brother slept, as his sleeping habits fluctuated from insomniac to a near coma at random hours), Yoh turned the brass knob and creaked the wooden door open. What greeted him was nothing short of unexpected.

Hao sat seiza style on his bed, staring intently at the black and white chessboard in front of him. The dark bags under his calculating eyes were more pronounced now. Opposite him, also on the bed, his doctor sat mimicking his actions. Yoh shuffled over to the room's sole chair and sat down to watch. Neither of them acknowledged his presence. Instead, Yoh realized that a mental war had broken out. It was _reishi_ vs. clairvoyance, and it looked like nobody was winning. The only pieces left were too kings; a stalemate.

Ever so slowly, the Irish woman gently picked up her white king and moved it one space back into the corner to her right. For all her slow-motion, the move was very anti-climactic, at least to Yoh. His king was still two spaces away. Hao suddenly smirked. The end came abruptly as Hao moved his king likewise one space, effectively cornering the white piece.

"Damn it Hao," his opponent sighed," you're such a killjoy. I was really looking forward to that story."

Yoh wondered what 'story' she was talking about, but he decided not to interrupt. Hao in a relatively sociable mood was a rare occurrence.

"Too bad, you lost. Now keep your end of the bargain and leave," the ex-pyro demanded. The smirk on his face had morphed into an all-out mocking grin.

The doctor got up and picked up the chess board and discarded pieces. "Fine. I'll go get your damn curry bread," she said, loading up the heavy box she pulled out from beneath the bed skirt. Yoh had not noticed it before, but the large cardboard box was filled with dozens of different types of strategy games. Some of the individual boxes inside were adorned with languages that he couldn't recognize. Before Yoh could get a good look at them all, the doctor finished cleaning up and hoisted the box on to her hip. As Yoh was about to leap up to open it for her, it flew inward on its hinges as if hit by some freak wind. Walking through the open door, she added almost as an afterthought," Please try not to strangle each other while I'm gone." The door slammed shut behind her just as it had opened. Yoh laughed good-heartedly, trying to break the ice between the room's remaining two occupants.

When the door closed behind the woman, Hao let out a suppressed sigh simultaneously to Yoh's laugh. He rubbed his temples in an effort to be ward off the headache that was sure to be on its way. Today wasn't going to be a kind to him.

"Are you OK?"

Hao jumped at his twin's question. Of course, he hadn't forgotten that he was in the room. Merely, he had only chosen to overlook his presence. He remained there, rubbing the sides if his forehead in silence. After a few minutes had passed, he answered.

"No, not really."

The words were out of his mouth before he could think of the repercussions of giving that particular answer.

"Need more morphine?"

"No."

"Do you want some water?"

"No."

"Headache?"

"Now that you mention it…," he began.

"Then what's your beef?"

The older paused in soothing his head to look at the younger. _Beef? When was that coined, _he thought. Despite the slang statement, he could feel the concern laced in Yoh's thoughts. Hao tried to drop the subject by ignoring his twin and burrowing himself back into the warm blankets.

"Well?"

"You don't know when to give up do you," he groaned, annoyed.

"Yeah, I guess I don't. Just answer the question."

"Leave me alone."

"You're avoiding the subject," the younger accused.

"No shit Sherlock."

"Who's Sherlock? Never mind. Please," he whined, giving him the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster.

"You wouldn't understand."

Yoh felt a surge of hope course through his veins. Hao was the last person he would have thought to say those infamous three words, but apparently, the Great Spirits work in mysterious ways.

"Try me," he challenged. Hao sat up, stiffening as he twisted one of his many healing muscles, and looked at Yoh in the eye once again. Yoh stared back at him, trying to force his way through the layers of emotions in Hao's cold eyes. If one were to be around Hao long enough, as Yoh had finally discovered, they would discover that he was a horrible excuse for an actor. Bits and pieces of emotions stuck out in his gaze. His eyes gave everything away. It was the case now, and Yoh felt the faintly exposed pained look in his dark orbs sear itself into Yoh's mind; branded there forever. He was nowhere near being an empathic such as Hao, but some sort of long-lost twin telepathy kicked it's grinding old gears in to action. The hair on the back of Yoh's neck stood on end as he realized something was terribly going wrong.

"What's happening," he questioned in nearly a whisper.

Unlike his eyes, Hao's flat voice gave away nothing. "The officials are coming here," he glanced at the clock above the door," In five minutes."

"Why," he questioned again, although he already knew the answer.

"Why do you think! You already know the answer."

"To kill you?"

"Not right away, at least. They want to hold a trial to make my death sentence seem _fair_."

"How do you know that?"

"Their meeting place is less than one hundred feet from this room," he replied emotionlessly.

_Oh. Right. _Reishi._ Hahaha…Wait! That's not funny!_

"No. It's not."

_Sorry, _he thought._ What do you plan to do?_

"Plead guilty."

_Why?  
_"I'm not going to hide the fact that I've killed thousands of people. It would be pointless to do so."

_He's right,_ Yoh thought miserably. _So they'll just kill him and be done with it._

"Yes, eventually."

_You're not going to do anything to stop that?_

"No."

_I guess you could just reincarnate yourself. _

"Wrong," Hao muttered quietly.

Yoh looked up at him, aghast. Hao's head was bowed slightly, his long brown bangs obscuring his face from Yoh's angle. His knees were pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around his shins.

"What do you mean?"

" I mean, " Hao continued, still refusing to look at his twin, "that I can't transmigrate. That particular skill left me along with the rest of my powers. Even you should have been able to figure that out."

_Well, that accounted for some of Hao's quiet behavior. _"Are you afraid?"

"What," the ex-pyro hissed, turning to look back at him angrily.

"Wait a minute! I didn't mean to make you angry," the younger stammered quickly," Rather, I meant to ask, are you prepared to give up so easily?"

Hao turned down his glare a notch. "Nice save. I guess so. I can't do anything else," he admitted, shrugging slightly.

"But there's always a way! You could come and live with me," he shouted suddenly.

"Think about what you are saying, idiot. Do you really think your friends, _fiancé, _and_ I _would want that? Besides, you can't overrule the Patch. You aren't King."

Yoh had actually forgotten about that last part, actually. His friends wouldn't be too appreciative of him. Especially Anna. He would be pummeled into the earth if she decided to let him live.

"See? It's pointless."

"Not necessarily. I'll think of something."

"I doubt it."

"Everything will work out," the teen said, grinning as he did so.

Hao paused in a retort at that. Something about that statement put his raging mind at ease. The dark part of his mind was only aggravated further by the comment. Both sides simultaneously lashed out at each other, and Hao was left with a beast of a headache. The only outward signs of this mental warfare were the twitch of an eyebrow and the tightening of his arms around his legs.

"Too late," Hao mumbled," They're already through the front door."

"Now? But it hasn't been five minutes yet---"

_BANG!_

The door slammed open and a flustered Dr. Clancy ran inside. "Hao! The Priests are here!"

"I know," the man in question, said as he made himself more presentable by relaxing his legs and arms," They want a trial."

"What? Why?"

Hao stared at her, unwilling to speak.

"Oh." The doctor's shoulders slumped. "But you're not a shaman anymore. They can't kill you based on future liability."

"They want me to 'atone for my sins.'"

"Shit."

"Crude, but my sentiments exactly. Nothing can be done."

"I'll attest for you if you want."

"It won't do any good."

"I feel obligated as a doctor."

"Do what you wish. I don't care."

"You do care. You just won't admit it."

Hao's eyes began burning like black coals as she said this. Yoh immediately picked up on his brother's suddenly stiff body and low growl, but the doctor seemed to be as ignorant as ever.

"Dr. Clancy," Yoh warned.

"Yes?"

"I think you've gone too far."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't push him. It won't end nicely."

"But he's---"

"Stop. Please," Yoh interjected. Hao's growing aura felt absolutely lethal at this range. Yoh twitched in his seat.

"Fine, but don't think I'll let this go. They'll be here in a few seconds anyway."

No sooner had she moved, grumbling, to stand next to Yoh, the Ten Priests, including Goldva, the Patch Chief, barged their way into the small room. In swift, precise motions, they moved silently in their full ensembles into a neat semicircle around the bed. Goldva was stationed in the middle, flanked by a stone-faced Silva and some silvery alien guy Yoh had never before seen in his life. He couldn't help but stare at him. If it was a him. Nichrome was absent, as Yoh expected he would be, as well as the other Priest in Hao's former group. Two new men had taken their places. Yoh tried to make eye contact with Silva, but he wouldn't meet his gaze.

Goldva stepped forward, her height dwarfed by the massive men behind her. Without anything in front of her, she began her monologue.

"As you no doubt have already gleaned from our minds, we have come here today to hold a trial against you, Asakura Hao, on multiple accounts of murder of the first degree, with malicious intent, one account of rape, treason as a Patch Official, destruction of property in no less than eighty countries, assault and battery of all Patch officials, forced invasion of the sacred Ground of the Stars, robbery of the Spirit of Fire, and robbery of the Great Spirit out of the title of Shaman King. How do you plead?"

Yoh looked at Hao, as did the rest of the room's occupants. His knees had relaxed back into their original limp position. His hands, also limp, lay by his sides on the soft blankets. Hao's head, tilted upward slightly in a confident, yet un-arrogant, way, astonished Yoh. His eyes showed defiance. His voice, clam and collected, stunned his audience with its unwavering clarity.

"Guilty," he said.

Surprised herself, Goldva began again. "Very well. As mandated by official Patch laws and regulations, the Ten Sacred Priests and I sentence you to death. Your execution…"

The rest was lost to Yoh's ears as his mind screamed _NO!_

"No!"

The Chief stopped talking.

"What is it now Yoh," accused in an annoyed fashion.

"You can't kill him."

"Why not," one of the new guys said.

"You don't believe in second chances?"

"Yoh," Kalim warned," he's not the kind of person you give second chances to. Look at what happened 1000 years ago. 500 years ago! A month ago! You've seen and felt what he's capable of as well as any of us. It's too dangerous."

"Of he really is as dangerous as you say he is, why are you all still alive?"

"It's true," Dr. Clancy continued for Yoh," He's lost his powers."

"We've taken that in to account as well," the Cheiftess reminded," The loss of one's powers isn't necessarily permanent. If he suddenly snaps, it could be the end for all of us. Your efforts, as helpful as they have been in the past, may not be enough next time."

"You're looking at it the wrong way. What if he never 'snaps?'"

"You can't predict that, Yoh. It's just too dangerous to let him live."

"I can help him. He's still a person, Goldva. If I can find out exactly why he is they way he is, maybe I can change him," he pleaded.

"I'm still here," Hao muttered, annoyed at being talked over.

Yoh ignored him. "What do you think about letting him come and live with me? He'll be surrounded by shamans and myself even if he does get his powers back. I'll take responsibility for him."

"He's not a puppy, Yoh. I sincerely doubt that he can be changed after 1000 years."

"He still has emotions Goldva. He's human."

Goldva only stared at the frustrated teen, searching his face for any hint of doubt. After a few minutes of agonizing scrutiny had passed, she began hesitantly," I'm not promising anything, Yoh. We'll deliberate shortly. But, before I leave, I want you to be aware of the consequences of the task you are possibly taking on. Are you willing to suffer the same fate as him if you should fail?" Beside her, Silva stiffened.

Without a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Yes."

"Do you really think he deserves a 'second chance?"

"Absolutely."

"Tell me why."

Yoh paused, taken aback. He knew why, but Hao certainly wouldn't like hearing it spew out of his mouth for all to hear. Oh well.

" I think he's a decent person, deep down at least. I don't care what he's done before. Certainly, he's committed unforgivable acts, and he's been killed in each of his lives for them. No one has ever actually attempted, at least to my knowledge, to find out why he hates humans so much. There must be a sound reason; otherwise, he wouldn't have revived himself so many times. So, I figure, why not find the root of the problem? I truly believe that I can help him, despite what he says or will say. After all, according to my grandfather, only good people can see ghosts."

Goldva and the Priests remained silent. They weren't expecting that. After a minute or so had passed, they began to file out of the room wordlessly. Silva turned to leave with the rest of them and finally made eye contact with Yoh. His expression was a mixture of an apology and pain. Yoh nodded to him, trying to forgive him without speaking.

When the door shut closed behind Silva, Yoh heard an enraged hiss permeate its way to him from the general direction of the hospital bed.

"You bastard."

Yoh turned to look the furious boy and squirmed in his skin. If looks could kill, he would be literally in the lowest level of hell right about now. Hao's once placid demeanor had turned murderous, his lips curled back to reveal pearly white fangs. His eyes burned like molten magma, angry to the point past anything Yoh had ever seen him. When he spoke, his voice trembled with unconcealed rage.

"Why did you do that," he all but shrieked.

"I want to help you!"

"I'm not a mental case! I don't want your fucking help! I'd rather die than get some cheesy consolation from you," he snarled.

"But you---"

"Stop it! Both of you aren't helping the situation," the doctor said, jumping back to life. "I suppose you're just going to do this all over again once they _kill_ you! Oh. I forgot. Without your twin there Hao, you can't revive yourself. Hell for all eternity! Do you really want that?"

"I've already been to Hell," he wailed angrily, turning to fixate his glare on her.

"Fine. Be a prick, you stubborn jack-ass. I'll just give you some more morphine to calm you down," she sighed, reaching in to the nightstand drawer and pulling out a massive pre-loaded syringe of clear liquid. "It's a large dose, so don't be surprised if you pass out or rant about pretty pink ponies."

"I don't want your drugs," he yelled, inching away from her.

She sighed once more. "Yoh? Can you do me a favor and hold him down?"

Hao slowly turned like one of those insane villains from a horror movie to glower at him. "If you do so much as get within three of me, I'll rip out your jugular with my bare hands."

"He's just messing with your head. He won't really rip out your jugular."

"Try me, bitch!"

Yoh was utterly confused. His brother had suddenly rounded on him and threatened to kill him (again). The hate in the room made him nauseous. Very few people hated him, and that was unsettling enough.

"A little help please? I don't want to miss and accidentally stab him in the eye."

Yoh locked gazes with Hao, his mind made up.  
"_Don't you fucking dare_," he snarled.

"Sorry, but it's for your own good." Yoh suddenly walked over to the bed, leaned toward his enraged twin, and locked his arms around Hao's torso, effectively rendering his upper body useless. Except his mouth, which immediately began to spew a colorful vocabulary of profanities the he had gained within the last century. A few of them even made Yoh's face flush with embarrassment. Hao started to squirm, trying to get out of his younger brother's iron embrace. Yoh only squeezed tighter, but not hard enough to damage his shoulder or chest wound. After a final scream of defiance, Hao's sharp teeth clamped down painfully on Yoh's right shoulder.

"Took you long enough to shut up. Here we go. Hold him still so I don't stab you as well." The Irish woman warned and plunged the needle of the syringe in to Hao's shoulder. "It'll take a minute or two to kick in," she said, pushing the plunger in to the barrel with her thumb and pulling it out once it was empty.

Hao's erratic breathing began to soften while Yoh listened to the doctor puttering around behind him with the sharps container and other various medical supplies. His bear trap of a mouth slackened somewhat, and Yoh tried to ignore the lancing pain where it once claimed war. After a few more seconds, Hao's body slumped forward.

"You can let go now, Yoh."

"I'm fine."

"Alright. I'll be down the hall with Heather if you need me," the doctor said. The door closed behind her with a soft_ click!_

Yoh remained where he was for a while until his breathing came in deep and even. Although he knew the drugged ex-shaman wouldn't wake up if the Trans-Siberian Orchestra were playing mid-song at full blast next to him, he tucked in his brother's limp body carefully in to the sheets.

"Sweet dreams Hao."

ooOOooOOoo

"I hate you."

"What else is new?"

"Go away."

"I don't feel like it."

"I thought you wanted to _help_ me?"

"I do."

"Then why do you continue to piss me off?"

"It's not my fault you're so grumpy."

"Actually, it is."

"Oh well."

"Yoh?"

"What?"

"Shut up before I vomit on you."

Silence followed that threat as the younger considered it.

"Fine. I'll go get you some more ice."

"Thank the Great Spirit for his wonderful generosity."

"I'm coming back, you know."

"I spoke too soon. The GS is really a masochistic bastard."

The door slammed behind the retreating younger twin.

That was how the morning after Yoh had spoken up during his twin's trial started out. Or rather, that was their first coherent conversation of the day. Yoh had walked in to Hao's room earlier that morning to find a rather dazed long-haired ex-shaman sitting up in the middle of his bed and staring into space. He, being Yoh, had walked over and kindly asked if he was feeling dizzy. Three things happened after that. One, there was a sharp slap to the younger twin's face, courtesy of the elder. Two, Hao had suddenly vomited on to the confused twin, much to his own surprise. Three, the Irish doctor had walked in at that moment and proceeded to laugh her ass off as the proceedings went from bad to worse. Yoh had walked out of the room only to return a few minutes later from his own room, freshly clothed. Hao had remained unmoving at the edge of the bed, finding the floor amusing mental fodder for his still highly drugged self. The doctor, still giggling over the recent events, had helped the challenged teen (if you would call him that) to lie down to prevent further destruction to his twin.

A splitting post-morphine headache calmed with ice and a few hours later saw the twins with their first real conversation of the day. Needless to say, Hao vaguely remembered the morning's events and never brought it up again.

Free from the hospital room, Yoh wandered the hallways in search of the nurse's station. It wasn't hard to find once he walked past it. An eruption of laughter ensued from behind the counter. _Katie must have told them…great._

The doctor in question popped up from the direction of the nurses, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Katie, it wasn't all that funny. He was high," Yoh whined.

"For you, maybe. But for me, that just made my day so much brighter!"

"Do you always do this when people get vomited on? Or is it just for me?"

"Oh no. I do it to everyone. You get used to laughing at vomit after you spend part of your internship in a chemo ward."

"Kathleen!"

"Sorry, that was bad. But my buddies and I had to find something to cheer up ourselves up."

"I don't want to hear any more of your internship stories! I get nightmares."

"Yay! Do you want that bucket filled up with ice?"

"If you don't mind."

"The ice machine's over there," she said, pointing to a small closest-like room.

"Thanks."

"No problem, but you might want to hurry and get back. Goldva just walked by."

"What!"

"Yeah. Not even twenty seconds ago."

"Why didn't you tell me!"

"I had the distinct feeling that she didn't want me to tell you."

"Damn it."

"Bye. Have fun with Hao!"

The nurses behind her roared with laughter.

By the time Yoh had streaked down the long hallways and finally remembered which room belonged to Hao, five minutes had passed. Empty ice bucket in hand, he shoved his way through the door and walked into the dreary room.

"Ah. There you are Yoh," Goldva said. She stood at the foot of Hao's bed. The bed's occupant had sat up again; an arm wrapped around his middle, and was glaring daggers at the Patch Cheiftess. He ignored Yoh as he entered the room.

"Have you decided yet," he asked tentatively as he set down the empty bucket on the nightstand.

"Yes," she continued reluctantly, "He may live. For now, anyway. But there are certain conditions---gah! Put me down this instant!" The rest was lost as she was picked up in a bear hug by Yoh, who shouted 'thank-you's' at the old startled woman. "Put me down before I change my mind," she threatened, her voice muffled in the headphone-clad shaman's arms.

"Sorry Goldva…there you go," he said, finally letting her on her feet. The woman bushed herself off, unfazed.

"Now, as I was _saying, _there are certain conditions."

"Of course."

"The first: he is your responsibility. You will be punished if he or you for that matter, messes up. Understand?"

"Yes."

"The second: You have six months from the day he leaves this hospital to, as you mentioned, 'change him.' All right? If considerable progress is made by the deadline, we may extend the allotted time. If you should fail, or if he kills even a single person, we continue with the execution. Shall I continue?"

"Please."

"One of our Priests will be making monthly visits to your home."

"Understood."

"Don't mock me child."

"Sorry Goldva, it wasn't intentional."

"Fine. The last condition: If the Shaman Fight should take up again this cycle, you and Hao shall be excluded from it."

The comment turned his insides to cold stone. _Give up the Shaman Fight?...Fine, but why?_

"I see that you hesitate Yoh. Do you wish to reconsider?

"No…No, of course not. But, may I ask why?"

"A majority vote deemed that Hao should not be near any future fight proceedings. If he is to be your responsibility, it would be impossible to obey this rule, should you agree. It would bring him too close to the fights. Do we have a deal?"

_Oh. _ Yoh paused to think over the situation. _My dream is pretty much over if I agree to this. Do I really want to just throw it all away? Oh shut up Yoh! You're thinking selfish thoughts. Not good._ He looked at Hao again, who refused to remove his glare from the shorter figure in the room. _Hao needs this, so what am I hesitating for?...Nothing, I guess._

"Deal," he agreed, holding his hand out to make it official.

Goldva blinked at the very un-Japanese gesture. _That's too bad,_ she thought, _he would have made a great King. _ She reached up and shook his outstretched hand.

"Alright. I'll inform the others of you're decision. Good-bye Yoh. I will be back to see you before you leave this village."

"Thank you," he replied. He thought he heard a gruff 'your welcome' as she closed the door, but it was drowned out by a sudden shriek and accompanying tackle from behind. The wind was knocked out of him as his body collided with the cold white tile floor.

"You bastard! What makes you think that you can take over _my _life and trade _me _like a child's toy," Hao growled in Yoh's ear. His bony knees dug into his shoulders, pinning him to the ground.

Yoh was utterly surprised for the second time that day. He had thought that Hao was too exhausted from recovering and the potent cocktail of meds. Apparently, a full-body tackle didn't require too much energy. He tried to regain the oxygen back into his lungs, but Hao quickly clamped his hands around his neck. Seeing no other option, Yoh let his body go limp.

"I can hear your thoughts! That won't work dumbass," Hao mocked, but it was too late. In a split second of confusion, he had slacked his grip on his younger twin. In that moment, Yoh had sucked in a huge gulp of air and twisted on to his back, throwing Hao under him in the process and reversing their positions. Hao was now on his back, arms caught in Yoh's and held together above his head by the wrist. Yoh now sat on Hao's stomach, much to the elder's annoyance.

"Get off me," he shouted," You're heavy!"

"Not until you agree to come and live at my house."

"Never," he hissed.

"Then I guess we'll be here for a while."

Hao squirmed, embarrassed to be in a useless position yet again. Like he had yesterday, he shouted obscenities off like a loaded machine gun.

"I'll vomit on you!"

"Not upside-down."

"You'll rip my stitches out!"

"Not likely. It'll be your own doing."

The ex-onmyôji continued screaming at his twin past the point when his throat burned raw. No doctors came by, as they were isolated alone in the hospital. His breathing came in rapid gasps between each insult until he finally went limp and was silent. The minutes dragged on before they spoke again.

"Well? What do you say?"

"Mffgs." It sounded more like an exhale than a reply.

"What?"

"…."

"Pardon?"

"Fine. Just get off me. You're heavy," he mumbled.

Yoh eased himself off of his brother and offered to help him up. Hao ignored him, preferring instead to roll over on his stomach and on to his knees. He groaned weakly.

"Are you alright?"

"……fuck."

"What?"

Before he could get an answer, Hao stood up on shaky legs and dashed over to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Jumping up likewise, Yoh walked over to the door and knocked lightly on it.

"Hao," he asked, concerned.

A retch answered for him.

"Do you want me to get Dr. Clancy?"

"….."

"Hao?"

"……No," a faint moan came from within.

"Can I come in?"

Another retch, followed by silence.

"Please?"

"…Go away."

"Fine," he sighed dramatically. _I guess he wasn't kidding when he said he'd throw up. _He walked back over to the abandoned bed and took out one of the fluid IV drip bags to replace the empty one hanging above the bed. It wasn't hard to do, as the IV tube itself was completely detachable. The flush of a toilet and soft footsteps came from behind him as he finished switching the fluids. Yoh moved out of the way to let a rather pale and clammy-looking Hao in to the bed. The older silently took the tube and attached it back to the catheter on his right arm. Their eyes locked as he finished the task. The message in Hao's clouded ones was clear enough that he took a few steps back. He doubted that his twin would hesitate to hurl on him anymore.

"Your fiancé is on her way up here. Goldva told her about our 'predicament,'" he stated blankly.

"What-t? N-now," Yoh stammered, paling enough to rival his twin's pallor.

"Thirty seconds," he warned, flopping over on his stomach and burying his head in the pillows. "Stand outside and talk to her. I need to get some sleep."

Yoh ran out of the door, closing it behind him. Hao was snoring before it clicked shut.

The hallways were ominously quiet as Yoh awaited the arrival of his fiancé. Truth be told, he had completely forgotten about her when he agreed with Goldva. He wished he hadn't. Still, he would have agreed nonetheless.

Anna walked around the corner and he felt his muscles go stiff. _No way out now._ She approached with a blank face, not showing any emotions. _ That's odd. Thought she would have slapped me by now. _She stopped mere inches away from him, her black eyes boring holes into his own. Her expression melted into something resembling confusion. I didn't suit her features.

"What did you do," she whispered, not wanting to believe the old hag who had told her in the first place.

"I…um…saved his life?"

"You gave up the crown."

"Yes," he said, unflinching.

"Why," she questioned. Her eyes began to turn cold.

"Anna, he's my _brother. _I couldn't just let him die while I watched. Please understand that," he said quietly. After a spare second of time passed, he decided to face his fears and take her hands in his.

Her eyes softened uncharacteristically. "Do you really think you can help him?"

"Without a doubt."

Anna sighed, her expression akin to the one she had the night Yoh had left for America. Yoh squeezed her hands.

"Alright. He can live with us. But keep in mind that you aren't going to get off this easily. I'll have to come up with something special for the two of you."

"Thanks Anna. I love you."

_SMACK!_

"You fool! He can hear us," she growled.

"But he's asleep!"

_SMACK!_

"That's for back-talking and touching me in public. See you at dinner. Bye." The itako strided down the hallway and rounded the corner before Yoh could say 'ow.'

Amidamaru popped up beside the teen, who was now clutching both red cheeks.

"Is it just me, or was that ridiculously easy, Lord Yoh?"

"It was. She was upset."

"I haven't seen that before."

"Not for a very long time."

"What do you think she has in store for you?"

Yoh started crying. "I have no idea! It won't be pleasant, though."

Amidamaru followed suit, and both man and ghost feared for the worst.

ooOOooOOoo

A slight breeze had picked up outside, tossing long, soft, dark brown locks into the clear night sky. Their owner sighed contently, easing himself on to the warm hospital roof-top. He lay on his back and gazed up in to the black universe overhead. Millions on tiny white orbs reflected their brilliant glow in his dark eyes; the sight of them soothed his mind like no living being.

Two more weeks had passed since the day Yoh had convinced Goldva to let him live. Hao had avoided talking to him like the plague, preferring to ignore him altogether. Unfortunately, he just couldn't seem to get Yoh's actions out of his mind. Part of him absolutely despised his twin for what he had done. The other side of his psyche, and much less dominant, was silently pleased. The latter side was appalling to the former, and thus had pushed it to the back of his mind with the rest of his radical thoughts and sealed behind a titanium mental barrier. Seldom, this locked vault was opened. His true mentality, freed from its prison, would surface and claim war with his dominant side. Such was the present case.

A slight frown adorned his elegant features, the only sign showing that his thoughts were in turmoil. He didn't like mushy emotions. They made people susceptible to loss, and, in turn, weakness. It was one of the points his dominant side had made nearly a millennia ago when it had convinced him to seal them away. They only hampered his judgment. Luckily, very few things had the power to worm their way into his heart. Three of the four were either dead or spiritually absorbed. The last key was slowly starting to form, and it sickened Hao to even acknowledge it's, or rather his, presence.

The cruel side of his mind suddenly pushed back those thoughts in to their vault, leaving him cold and heartless once again.

One of his ancient memories, somehow free, snagged at the edge of his mind. Hao reluctantly brought it to the front of his consciousness, hesitant to relieve it. An overwhelming wave of sadness accompanied it, blotting out everything else.

_Light plumes of grey smoke floated up above the densely wooded forest. The source of it, a tiny straw cottage, sat at the very perimeter of the near-by village. A beautiful patch of manicured flowers adorned the clearing in front of the house. A woman's voice wafted across the open area._

"Come on Asaha," _her melodious voice rang," _enough playing for now. You can help me with dinner if you'd like."

"Coming mama," _a little boy, maybe three or four, called out. His small wooden sandals clacked against the hard-packed earth as he ran to catch up with the woman in the flowery kimono. She took her son's hands in hers and together, they walked up the stone path. The boy, his long hair pulled back in a neat pony-tail, looked up and smiled at his mother. The blond woman smiled back at him, laughing as she walked with him. Their world was happy._

_Mother!_

Silent tears cascaded down Hao's cheeks and plopped on his shirt. A sob threatened to bubble up his throat, but he stopped it shortly after he realized what his body was doing. He wiped them away quickly, angry at himself for expressing such emotion. In a graceful, fluid movement, he pushed himself off the ground. The warm bed downstairs beckoned to him and he made his way to the stairwell across the roof. Closing the door quietly behind him, he failed to notice the soft pink ball of light perched in the adjacent rooftop. It fluttered away soon after Hao was out of sight.

ooOOooOOoo

The awkward feeling of steel sliding out of skin made him cringe internally.

"Sorry, Hao. Two more."

Again, that sickening feeling followed by a sharp pinch.

"One more."

Again. It made his eye twitch of it's own accord.

"Well, I guess that's the last of your stitches. You are now free to walk near giant magnets."

"Finally," Hao sighed. He stretched his ab muscles for good measure.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Stiff, but moveable."

"Good. Keep working with it. Any headaches?"

"No," he said indifferently.

"You're hiding something.  
"Me? Never," he faked in a sickly innocent voice.

"Hmph. So I guess this is good-bye."

"What about that 'permanent pain in your ass' deal you were raving about earlier?"

"I meant for now. I'm not through with you yet."

"We'll see."

"I suppose you want your belongings now?"

"Yes." He was stripped down to nothing but black boxers.

"Your poncho, pants, and shoes are all stained and destroyed. I'll go get the rest, though. Yoh's on his way with an extra change of clothes for you."  
"So kind of you two."

"It's a habit. Not that you'd know what those silly human things are," she retorted sarcastically.

"Touché."

"BRB," she said, walking over to the door.

"Speak properly."

"Not a chance, old man," Dr. Clancy laughed, holding open the door open for Yoh.

Yoh sheepishly offered his twin a pair of faded blue jeans, white dress shirt, wooden sandals, and a hair brush. The ex-pyro gladly took them and began dressing himself, not acknowledging Yoh's efforts.

"Sorry Hao, but the jeans might be a little big on you."

"What are you talking about? We're twins," he reminded. Hao looked down at himself. "Oh." He had lost a considerable amount of weight during his time lounging around. The pants were indeed loose. "No belt," he accused, looking up.

"I only had one," Yoh began.

"Yours is here," the returning doctor announced, holding out the belt to him as she walked in to the room. Hao grabbed it and attempted to put it on. The old star encrusted leather strap now fit around his waist two notches more than it used to. _Damn_.

"You'll gain it back," Yoh offered.

"Not with what your fiancé has in store for us," he said dryly, sitting down on the bed to brush his hair. He would not be rushed.

"The only other things that weren't destroyed were your earring and the Oracle pager. I'm amazed that these big hunky things didn't tear your ear lobes off when you hit the ground," she mused, holding up the silver Patch jewelry. Hao took them from her in turn and put them on, feeling a little more like his old self. The pager, however, he shoved in his pocket. Once he finished combing his hair, he handed the brush back to his twin.

"Bye Hao. Don't come back."

"That's a lovely thing to say. Even by my standards," he commented.

"Yeah, but they'll---"

"I get your point," he interjected, reading her thoughts. He stood up to leave

She doctor extended a hand. "May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back---."

"Not on your life."

"You're such a killjoy, you old coot."

"That's more like it," he smirked. He turned to leave, not looking back at her again.

"You never answered my question."

"Think of something I would say," he growled over his shoulder.

"Goodbye Asaha."

Hao's eyes widened. He whipped around to face her. "What did you just say?"

But it was too late. She was gone.

"Who's Asaha?"

Hao turned slowly to stare at his confused twin.

"No one of importance. Let's go," he replied angrily.

"Alright," he sighed, defeated. "Ren's jet is stalling just outside the village."

"Whatever," Hao mumbled absently. His mind was too caught up in itself to give a smart-ass reply.

Yoh led the two of them out of the massive hospital and through the ancient city. Just after the buildings began to thin out along the edge of the village, a vast expanse of desert greeted them for miles and miles in every direction. Not far from where they stood, a white Lear jet sat waiting for them. Hao continued to walk toward the plane, uncaring if his twin should fall behind. Quickly scaling the lowered steps, they went inside the warm interior. Anna, Tamao, Rena, Horo-Horo, Chocolove, Ryu, Faust (with Eliza and Frankenstienny), and Manta sat in plush cream-colored leather seats, each engaged in their own conversations. Jun and Li Pailong were in the cockpit, preparing to ascend in to the cloudless blue sky. Yoh took a seat next to Anna. Hao, receiving open glares as he passed the cabin's occupants, moved to the back of the jet to sit alone, He relaxed in to the reclining chair, not bothering to put on his seat belt.

As the streamlined jet launched itself skyward, he leaned his head against the window. The cool glass was a welcome focal point to his aching mind. Long in to the night, he pondered his last encounter with the Irish woman. She had seemed different to him that time, a fact made all the more puzzling by her last statement to him. He had known many clairvoyants in his lifetime, but none where able to get information exactly _that _right. It was more of a built-in radar that detected _when_ things where going to happen. Few could even get a vague gist of what they were going to experience. Names and places where better left for the divinists to seek, which she certainly was not.

The plane flew on across the endless Pacific Ocean, toward his far-off home country of Japan. He didn't nod off like the rest of the jet's passengers. Instead, he kept repeating the same question over and over again in his mind; a self-rewinding tape-recorder of his own confusion.

_How did she know my name?_

He doubted the answer would come easily.

* * *

Another evil cliffy. I like them.

If you're wondering, the flashback Hao had was an actual scene. Aptly, the chapter was called, "Mother." No one spoke in the flaskback, so I improvized. Hehe. I'm a bad seed for hurting Hao. Emotionally and physically. Go Morphine!Hao

I meant to have this up on April 4 of this year, but I just never had the time to finish it for then. Shaman King, the manga, was officially over as of that day. ToT The ending was amazing, in my opinion. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet, but I just want you guys to know that it is insanely epic. I cried like a baby. Takei did all I wanted and more. Long live Shaman King! Best story ever! *cries*

Now be good people and Review for me, please. Nice ones brighten up my day! Thanks :D

~SemperMemor


	5. Homecoming

Chapter Five

Homecoming

A/N:

Homygoose. TWO chapters in one week?! I must be crazy.

Hey peeps! I hope you all like the last chapter. It was a beast, being the longest one I've written, but it was a blast to write. I just hope I'm staying in character. :D

If I wasn't clear on something, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't, the strange poem that Dr. Clancy was saying to Hao is a traditional Irish 'farewell.' Sort of like a 'see you later' combined with 'break a leg.' She didn't finish saying it, though.

Not next chapter, but the one after is my favorite one. It's also the hardest to write by far, but it's the most rewarding. Very intimidating for anyone who chooses to have Hao in their fanfics. DX

I do not own _Shaman King, _its characters, or it's storyline. They rightfully belong to Hiroyuki Takei. I also don't own any song by Nickelback. I only own my private roll of duct tape and my writin' skeils. And the concept of making Hao high…sort of…never mind, I can't own that. :D

ooOOooOOoo

"Hao? Wake up. We've landed."

Hao jolted awake, startled out of his semi-silent reverie. Yoh stood above him, thinking about what he should do if his twin should fail to move. Enormous altitude pressure in his ears alleviated in a soft 'pop' as he yawned hugely. Not willing to give up his warm seat, he looked around. The other jet passengers were beginning to rise as well, their arms raised over their heads as they stretched.

"Come on," he repeated after Hao didn't show any inclination that he had heard Yoh. "You can wear my spare coat. The city's a little cold today." He held out the light brown trench coat.

"Keep it. I don't need it," he replied nonchalantly.

"Please Hao. You just got out of the hospital."

He shot Yoh a warning glare. "_Don't _pity me. I don't want or need your coat." It sounded childish coming from one such as him, but he didn't care. He was _the _onmyôji after all. A little frigid air wasn't going to kill him. He shoved the garment in his twin's face as he got up and stood in the aisle. Before Yoh could argue any further, Hao walked down the luxurious Lear jet and hopped down the steps on to the black tarmac.

An icy blast of bone-chilling air surrounded him like he was submerged in Arctic seawater. Small goose bumps appeared on the back of his neck and arms in a primal attempt to block out the radical change in temperature. _What the hell_, he thought. _Why is it so cold out in the middle of summer? And _Japan _of all places?_

As if she had heard him speak aloud, Anna responded behind him.

"Freak cold front from northern Russia. Jun said it would be here earlier, but you were asleep. Where's the jacket Yoh gave you," the itako asked.

"I don't need it," he repeated. He'd dealt with colder weather before, after all.

"Really? Then you can walk home."

"But Anna! That means I have to walk home too," the younger twin whined, appearing behind her.

"Yes, it does."

"Hao," Yoh pleaded," take the jacket! I don't want to walk that far!"

Hao smirked triumphantly.

"I guess that settles it then. Hurry up, the both of you. I want breakfast served at 8 O'clock sharp," the okami said with finality.

"Yes, Anna," Yoh cried. He watched miserably as the other shaman (plus Manta) walked off toward the airfield exit to load up the awaiting limousine, courtesy of one Tao Ren. Yoh turned back to his twin as the black car pulled away from the curb.

"See what you did? We could have ridden in a limo! It was heated too!"

"Cars are for weak-bodied humans. Use those Asakura genes I was so generous to pass on to you for once in your life."

Yoh was about to say 'look who's talking,' but thought better of it. His twin thought it was a smart move.

Hao started to walk in the direction of the exit as well, his long hair trailing behind him as the wind picked up. "Let's get going. Or would you rather face the wrath of your beautiful wife-to-be," he shouted over his shoulder.

Yoh grumbled something along the lines of 'we'll have to work on that,' but got his legs in motion nonetheless. "Follow me," he instructed.

Hao followed the grumpy teen as he passed him. Day one was starting off well so far. He had managed to make his brother's life a little more miserable than it already was. He allowed himself a small grin.

The unlikely identical pair made their way through the outer suburbs of Tokyo to the smaller city-burrow of Funbari Hill. Walking, it wasn't terribly far: a little over six miles to the old inn. On a normal, albeit warm, day, it was a route included in Yoh's daily training run. But today wasn't all too warm, something a certain ex-pyro soon came to be acquainted with.

Hao, being an onmyôji, was hardly ever affected by weather extremes. Of course, that only held true when he had a guardian spirit tailing his every move. The elemental Spirit of Fire was no where to be found, or used for that matter, so he began to feel the cold air seep in to his limbs at a faster rate than he was comfortable with. His pride wouldn't let him admit that fact or let him take the damn jacket out of his brother's arms. Instead, he resorted to wrapping his arms around his chest and putting his hands under his armpits. Yoh noticed this action about a mile before they reached their destination. He broke the silence that had accompanied the two for the duration of the trek.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear it?"

"Positive," he assured quickly. Breathing alone had started to burn his lungs, so much that his voice came out is a sharp rasp. Yoh suddenly stopped and grabbed him by the upper arm.

"You don't have to be so stubborn, Hao. It's freezing out here. Look, you're shivering," he pointed to Hao's trembling body," You'll get sick. Take it now or I'll put it on for you."

Hao stared at the jacket. Then at the strangely over-confident Yoh. Back again.

"Forceful words for such a slacker," he said dryly, coughing after he did so.

"Stop trying to change the subject." He offered the coat again.

Hao hesitated. "Fine," he sighed, taking the jacket and slipping it on. He shoved his hands in it's pockets.

"Thanks," Yoh smiled," We're almost there."

Hao didn't respond. He concentrated on moving his feet forward and tried to ignore the frigid air stabbing at his insides.

Less than five minutes laws the two outside the old mansion. Even if it was only two stories, the traditional Japanese Inn had a certain grandeur quality that covered approximately 4265 square feet. The estate boasted multiple guest rooms, five living rooms, three bathrooms, a massive kitchen, a garden, a pond, and it's own private hot spring (1).

Hao and Yoh passed under the stone archway and entered through the front shoji doors. As quickly as he could, the elder hung up the jacket on an empty coat hook. Yoh opened his mouth to ask for a thank you, but he decided against provoking Hao for the second time that day. The younger mimicked his brother's actions and took off his shoes. After Hao had followed suit, he walked in to the main building.

"Um. Yeah. This is the house," he said awkwardly, not knowing exactly how to continue. "Come on, I'll show you your room. It's upstairs," he told the silent Hao after watching him stand unmoving on the threshold. He followed wordlessly.

The hallway was bordered by numerous sliding doors. Hao didn't know what lay beyond them, and his guide never said anything. A hallway to his left led back outside, presumably to the onsen.

Climbing up the short flight, the two came to another long wide hallway. "Anna's room is the far right. The one with the death threat of the door," he gestured to said door," Next to her's is mine. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway. As for you," he continued, walking over to the door on his immediate right, "Yours is here. It's next to mine, so if you need anything, I'm nearby."

Hao followed Yoh over to the door and slid it open. He walked in and looked around. It was plain, nobody having used it as sleeping quarters while the shamans were here. Another door, most likely a closet, was to his left. A few boxes remained stacked against the bare walls, never unpacked. A dresser leaned against the left wall, empty. The only other piece of notable furniture was an empty bookcase on the far end of the room, next to the sole window.

"Sorry it's a little stuffy in here, no one's used this room for ages," Yoh apologized," I'll move the boxes out of here today. The futon is in the closest. The dresser…I'll have to take you shopping soon. Until then, you can wear my clothes." He looked at Hao, who was staring off in to space again, lost in thought. "You okay?"

He looked up from his day-dreaming. "I'm fine. Don't you have something to do?"

"Uh…I think?"

"Breakfast? It's quarter to eight."

"Shit! I'd forgotten about that," he shouted. "I'll be downstairs if you need me." He turned around and dashed out of the room, not listening for a reply. He wouldn't have heard one anyway.

Hao walked over to the window and slid himself in to the small alcove, pulling his knees up on the chair in there. The old oracle pager stuck out uncomfortably in his pocket, so he took it and sat it upright against his legs. It was dented on the backside, but the light lit up when he began to absentmindedly fiddle with the hidden buttons. The black, cream, and red-colored machine was smeared in multiple places with dried blood. He smudged it off with his thumb as his fingers quickly danced in an elaborate display of typing. It was a familiar ritual he did while waiting for fights to commence and served to occupy his mind. Random facts, dates, places, events, and names popped up on the screen. He clicked on his own name under the category of shaman fight participants.

Asakura Hao (May 12, 1985 - )

Status: disqualified

Mana: unknown

He sighed after he finished reading the last of them. He had hoped that at least some number would have been there after the fight, but he knew from the beginning that there was nothing left. It was still a disappointment when the fact was thrown in his face.

Without realizing it, he pulled up Yoh's data sheet. Hao's eyes widened in disbelief as he read the strangely familiar mana level.

"What the hell?"

His screen displayed one very long number.

Mana: 1,125,000

He stared at the rectangular screen in shock, trying to deny what his impeccable eyesight told him.

Mana: 1,125,000

Mana: 1,125,000

Mana: 1,125,000

A loud crash echoed from downstairs. It was followed by a short shriek and the distinct sound of two oversouls clashing.

A small window popped up over the screen.

Refresh?

Hao clicked the enter button with his thumb.

Mana: 1,124,999

His mouth slackened slightly. _His mana? _My _mana? _

"ASAKURA HAO!"

His head snapped up at the sound of his name being screeched. _Anna? _Suddenly, the thoughts of the other inn residents he had ignored started to flow in like a raging tsunami.

_Dude, she sounds pissed. _The blue-haired one.

_What did Hao do? I didn't see him come in. _The short blond.

_Oh god. Anna's gonna kill him. _Yoh.

The pager in his hands vibrated simultaneously to the screen flashing a new pop-up box.

Sender: Asakura Yoh. Open message?

Hao clicked the enter button once again.

Hao! Come ASAP! Breakfast is ready.

_All this commotion over breakfast, _he asked himself._ Anna must have them on short leashes._

"GET DOWN HERE!"

_Very short leashes. No patience either. _Hao opened up a new text box and began typing.

Not hungry.

Less than ten seconds later:

Sender: Asakura Yoh. Open message?

_Click!_

That's not the point! She wants you down here! Oh god. She's going upstairs.

_This will be interesting._

The door flew open suddenly and was replaced by the blond itako. Hao put down his pager as she walked in to give her his full attention. A rarity in itself.

"What do you mean you won't come downstairs," she questioned angrily.

Hao smirked at his twin's fiancé. She certainly looked more beautiful when she was pissed off.

"I told my little brother that I wasn't hungry."

"Do you not have any manners at all? When I called you to come to breakfast, I didn't care whether or not you were hungry. Guests are supposed to be present at such events."

"Well, guess I'm not your average guest," he mocked.

Anna shot him a cold glare and continued in a voice that suggested that she was trying to hold back a good deal of menace. "As long as you are living in this house, you are Yoh's guest. I never wanted you here, and so you will appease me by simply doing as I ask. Sitting at the table for instance."

Hao smiled in a sickly-sweet way. "What if I refuse? What will you do to me Itako-no-Anna?"

The aforementioned itako didn't reply. Instead, she walked over to where Hao was sitting, grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him off his perch. The longhaired ex-shaman landed on the ground in a small _huff_. He slowly got back up and turned to face Anna.

"This is certainly different from your punishment, my dear," he said, clapping his hands in mock applause.

Her right hand came flying out of nowhere, intent on smacking the hell out of his face. With a deft movement, he caught her by the wrist and pulled her closer to him. Remembering what happened last time, he was prepared for the second hand as it came a split second later.

"I'm not falling for your slapping this time, Anna. Contrary to what some may believe, I do learn," he said mere inches away from her face.

That did it. Anna lost all control of her anger just as Hao grabbed her left hand. She was glad for once that Hao was a male.

"Stop acting so familiar with me," she shrieked in his face. While he blinked at her comment, Anna shook one of her hands loose from his iron grasp and managed to push him back. She grabbed him by the forearm, ducked low, and kicked out at him in an upward angle. The satisfying sound of the wind being knocked out of him was her consolation prize.

Hao's face betrayed complete shock as he was catapulted back on to the floor again and crumpled in to a stiff heap of jeans and dark brown hair. He lay on the floor, unmoving.

"Stop acting like a spoiled child," she spoke out in a monotone," Don't think that just because you are Hao that you may do as you please. Your powers are gone and therefore you are nothing more than a human that can see spirits."

Anna walked past the downed ex-shaman, not caring to look him. "I expect you to be down at the table in five minutes," she said emotionlessly, shutting the door behind her.

Yoh sat waiting at the low table as Anna came back from up stairs.

"Anna? What did you do to him?"

The okami spared him a rare smile. "We talked. He'll be down in a few minutes. Don't ask him about it."

Yoh seriously doubted that all they did was talk, at least not with her smiling like that. But, it was probably better for his own health of he dropped the subject.

Just as Anna had predicted, Hao came in to the room less than five minutes later. His face was contorted in masked pain as he limped over to the seat next to Yoh, blanching as he settled himself down on the cushion. Yoh looked over incredulously at him, apparently the only one who noticed his twin's discomfort. Anna continued to smile, as unsettling enough as it was.

With a quick 'let's eat,' all dug uneasily in to the food that Yoh and Ryu had prepared. The subject of Hao was never brought up in conversation, but they were all thinking about him. Hao remained quiet, picking at his food with one chop-stick laden hand. The other lay on his lap under the table, balled in a tight fist. Manta sat to his right, occasionally sparing his stiff neighbor a glance. The normal arguments between Ren and Horo² were somewhat subdued, only lasting for a few minutes at a time instead of an entire meal. Even Chocolove's jokes were less frequent.

Yoh tried to get his twin in a conversational mood, but he could have been talking to a wall for all his efforts. He asked him simple questions that anyone would ask a complete stranger. What's your favorite color, do you like oranges, what do you like to read, and what is your favorite food were a few in his never-ending repertoire. He elder replied with brief, one-worded answers, if he said anything at all. But for the most part, Hao sat staring at his plate, trying to fight off the pain in his lower body through sheer willpower. It failed miserably.

Breakfast ended in stifled yawns, jetlag taking over the inner clockwork of the assembled crowd. Everyone cleared his or her own plate and brought it to the kitchen for them to be washed. Yoh took Hao's, feeling sorry for his twin.

He let the pity slide for once.

"Hao."

The man in question lifted his dull gaze to the itako across the table from him.

"I hope that your time here will not be spent freeloading off us. I expect you to earn your keep. Do you understand?"

He lowered his head again and nodded in her direction.

"Excuse me?"

"I nodded, if I remember correctly."

"Don't backtalk to me."

Hao looked up at her again, intrigued at that particular statement. It sounded familiar somehow.

"Could you repeat that again?"

"I said don't backtalk to me. Don't make me remind you again."

He continued to stare at Anna, lost in thought. A strange idea suddenly came to him. "Show me your true form," he said slowly.

"I _beg _your pardon?"

He contemplated for a moment on how he was to continue with this.

"What are you hiding from me?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously to dark slits. "What are you talking about? I don't have another form."

He said nothing, only continuing to look at Anna with a confused expression.

"Enough with your stalling. Go wash the dishes"

"…."

"Did you hear me?"

"Mmm....?"

"You're worse than Yoh. Get to work before I come over there and make you wish Keiko had given birth to twin girls. _Again_."

Before she could continue threatening him, Hao had gotten up, albeit stiffly, and forced himself to walk over to the kitchen. Past the seemingly innocent shoji doors, the room looked like an abandoned battle field.

Pots and pans of various sizes and colors were tossed around the tiled room. Food was splattered on the walls, floor, window, fridge, counters, and stove. They gave off different smells: some good, others like decaying flesh. Wondering just what he might find, he looked up.

"What the hell is _that?_"

Yoh turned around from the sink, surprised to hear Hao's voice in the kitchen. He followed Hao's gaze to the same grey-blue spot on the ceiling.

"My fault, Chief Yoh. Sorry," the pompadour-sporting shaman said from over by the stove. He was scrubbing furiously at a large spot of dried egg.

"It's some old rice Ryu found in the fridge this morning. He tried to make it edible enough for human consumption, but it, uh, didn't work. We were hard pressed for time..."

Hao was glad that he hadn't eaten too much.

"This place is a mess for pretty much the same reason. Anna doesn't like to wait for breakfast," he admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, you must be in here because she forced you to. Grab an apron and anything dirty you see. This is going to take a while."

The elder went over to the rack of aprons and tied on the only available one. It was a brilliant shade of pink with a heart embellished on the front. Walking over to the overfilling sink by Yoh, he began to wash the never-ending mess. His twin stifled a giggle.

"Don't even think about laughing."

"Sorry."

"You'd better be."

Yoh continued to clean likewise, drying the dishes Hao washed and putting them on the massive rack that Ryu had procured from one of the cabinets. It was a strange sight to see. Just over a month ago, no one would have believed that Hao would even do such a thing. His hair was freshly tied up in the back of his head in a neat ponytail; sleeves rolled back, mouth slightly cast in a frown, and up to his elbows in filthy dish water. He looked awkward in the kitchen setting to say the least. Seeing him doing something so mundane, so _normal, _made Yoh smile.

Horo-Horo poked his head around the door, beginning to form a question directed at Yoh. He stopped suddenly, once he noticed Hao cleaning. His mouth formed a perfect O as he took in the sight.

"How did she get him to do _that_?"

Hao scowled at the blue-haired teen, elegant eyebrows furrowing in anger.

Anna's voice resonated from the other room. "The same way I get you to clean the bathrooms. Now get back to work."

"Ye-s An-na," he stammered, disappearing from view.

Ryu laughed from the other side of the room.

ooOOooOOoo

"_Thank you, Tom. The strange cold front from northern Russia has mysteriously vanished in the last few hours. The reason for the sudden onset of it has not yet been confirmed our scientists, but every effort is being made to find the cause of this bizarre weather phenomenon. In other news…" _The Tokyo correspondent for NBC News continued, his monotone drawing his listeners away from the actual news. Anna flicked the channel back to her favorite soap.

Hao stood on the other side of the room, behind the lounging itako. Finished with the horrendous kitchen, he had thrown the ghastly pink apron at his twin and walked out to find Anna watching the morning news.

"Don't you find that odd?"

"Go do something useful Hao. I'm busy."

"There has never been such a dramatic temperature change in the middle of summer in Tokyo. At least, not in my thousand years' experience."

"I'm sure there's some explanation for it." She paused for an infinitesimal amount of time," What do you think weather boy?"

He ignored her insult with a flick of his mind. "I don't know," he shrugged," but I bet something else will happen."

"Like what?"

"Freak blizzards, thunder showers, earthquakes, fire storms. Anything, I guess."

"Are you suggesting an apocalypse?"

"Who knows? It could happen."

"Yes, and you would be jumping for joy when it does."

"Most likely."

"Right. Now, go get Yoh for me. I need to talk to the two of you."

"Yoh," he yelled over his shoulder," your presence is wanted by someone."

"Coming," Yoh called from the kitchen.

Anna turned around on the cushion she sat on. "I could have done that."

"Yes, your highness," he said in mock submission.

"Watch your attitude, smart-ass."

"What's up," Yoh asked, drying his hands on the towel he held.

"Your punishment is up," the okami put simply.

The younger stiffened to the likeness of a lamp post.

"Yoh," she continued," You will run five extra laps around the city."

He released a pent-up breath and sighed contently.

"_That's it," _Hao said in a strangely empty voice.

"What was that," the itako questioned.

"_Is that all I have to do? Thank God. This will be a breeze," _he said again in the same empty voice, but ending with a signature smirk. Yoh twitched where he stood.

"So," Anna said slowly," is that how you feel Yoh? I thought I was being pretty generous with what I gave you. According to Hao, you seem ungrateful."

"Bu-t-t, I-I…Hao, you traitor," he whispered, aghast," You're supposed to help me!"

His smirk blossomed in to an all-out maniacal grin. "Not a chance, o'savior."

"Very well. Yoh, you can also give me Amidamaru's tablet, Harusame, and the King's Sword. I will keep them until you can learn to be grateful for what you have."

Both teen and Amidamaru burst in to tears and hugged each other, the latter turning in to an oversoul for it. Hao snorted.

"As for you, Hao, you will teach Yoh how to use elemental spirits. I want him to learn the only thing that still remains out of his comprehension, aside from reincarnation."

His eyes narrowed slightly at her command. "Not possible," he said blankly.

"And why is that? I was under the impression that you were _the _onmyôji to consult on such matters. He can handle anything you put them through."

"It's not a matter of just teaching him, which I refuse to do," he growled," Anyone can be taught everything there is to know about using them. The problem is the only ones who can control them now are the Patch officials, and that's not even considering if he has the corresponding power for one."

"First of all, you _will _teach him. You are going to be living here, and this is one of the ways you will earn your keep," she commanded in a voice that left no room to maneuver," There must be some way for him to use the elemental spirits. You did."

"_I_ was different. _I _was an onmyôji and could reincarnate myself in to a _Patch. _Something like that would take a lifetime to accomplish. Growing up takes years to accomplish, as you should know. Besides, they won't allow transmigrations in to their tribe to happen so easily. They weren't exactly prepared for me."

"So you're finally admitting that you aren't an onmyôji anymore," she said coolly.

Hao glared at the blond itako in front of him in anger. His patience was beginning to wear thin and he could feel the rage he often felt toward the incompetent rise steadily. His vision became slightly blurry, and his thoughts began to take on a rather insane edge. If he wasn't careful, he would snap like he had over a month ago. It wasn't something he wanted to live through again.

"Anna, be careful," his twin warned next to him.

Hao looked at Yoh, a little surprised by his statement. Yoh continued to look at his fiancé, his gaze steady. Anna looked back at him, her expression slightly relaxing in to one of understanding.

The elder breathed deeply, choosing his next words with the utmost care. "It's not as simple as it sounds. If one wanted to use them, they would have to go through hell to do so."

"So make him go through hell. You're capable of doing so."

"I meant literally."

"Oh," she said, the realization of it catching her off guard. Before the younger of twins in front of her could realize that she was surprised, she quickly scowled. "Then do what you must."

"You seriously want me to kill him?"

"If it will accomplish what I ask of you, then you may. Faust can revive him."

Hao looked back at Yoh, who had paled to the shade of wax paper.

"Excellent," he cackled.

"But, I don't want it to happen until after the Patch official comes here to check on the two of you. If he finds Yoh on the floor with a sword sticking out of his chest and you standing over him with a smirk of your face, I doubt that he'll understand the situation."

"What about what I want," Yoh piped up for the first time since Anna had considered having him killed. "I don't want to die!"

"You'll be fine. You won't stay dead at any rate. I won't allow it," the itako replied," I've just decided that this is the second part to your punishment."

Yoh blushed, the color barely returning to his face before it disappeared again.

"I'll be upstairs of you need me, planning exactly how to kill me little brother," he said, turning to leave.

"Don't you dare walk away from me before I say you may," Anna warned. "I haven't finished with you yet."

"I think you have, unless you wish to service me in another way," Hao replied, still walking away from the two.

"For your insolence, you will accompany Yoh on his training," she hissed, not at all liking his comment.

"Really? Make m---_oof!"_

His retort was knocked out of him as his former demons, Zenki and Kouki, pounded him to the floor. He glared up at them, which was about the only thing he could do.

Anna got up from her seat in front of the TV and walked over to where he lay on the floor, yet _again. _With a flick of her hand, the demons lifted him up and pinned him against the wall. The itako closed the three feet between them and stared down Hao at eye level. His dark eyes burned with defiance.

"You don't like the predicament you're in. I realize that," she stated in a nonchalant voice," Despite what your twin says, I think that Yoh should have killed you when he had the chance. But for some reason, due to his inborn sense of righteousness, he wanted you to live. Out of the kindness in his heart, he risked his own life to allow you to live here. I'll respect that, but that does not mean that I have to like it. Neither of us wants to live the rest of our lives squabbling at each other. So, I call a truce and you will abide by it or you can face the Patch once they come.

"I don't think I made myself clear a few hours ago, so I will say it again. You _will_ show respect to both Yoh and myself and you _will _do as we ask. Your stay here is not meant to be a vacation. That goes without saying. You will _not _cause him to loose his life once six months has passed. You _will _train him. In turn, we will respect you when you _earn_ it. As of now, you do not. Do I make myself crystal clear?"

The ex-shaman in question bowed his head and said something in a voice so low that only Anna could hear it. Yoh wasn't even sure he said something until he watched in amazement as she slapped him across the face with her legendary left and replied to him in the same low voice. He said nothing back.

"Very well. We'll talk. I'll be up there in a after my soap is over," she said after he didn't respond, letting go of her grasp on the familiars. Hao fell down on his knees, the renewed pressure on his legs forcing them to give out. He got back up and stared at his twin, a strange look in his eyes. It didn't last long before he turned quickly on the balls of his feet and walked away in the direction of his.

Not looking at him, Anna said, "Yoh, what are you still doing here?"

"Umm…leaving?"

"Good. Bring back the groceries for dinner. I want beef curry."

The shaman sighed. "Sure. What did Hao say to you?"

She sat back down on her cushion, flicking the channel to her favorite show,"Nothing that concerns you. He's just tired."

_That can't be, _Yoh thought_, She never lets me go back to my room when I'm tired._

"Go."

"All right. And Anna?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. I did that because he was being a twit."

"Hehe. OK, I'll be back later."

"Fine. I'll know if you don't do those extra laps. Don't think I won't check."

The teen quickly walked out of the house, worried that Anna might have the same _reishi _Hao had. It wasn't true, of course, but Yoh didn't know that.

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh fell through the door to the inn, too exhausted to walk. The grocery bags scattered their contents across the living room, coming to a stop when they hit something. The people in the room looked at his rather noisy entrance.

"Welcome back Yoh," Manta said quietly from across the table.

"Thanks Manta," he sighed in to the bamboo floor.

Everything went strangely quiet. Even the TV was on mute.

Yoh looked up, confused at the lack of sound. "Everyone OK?"

"Chief," Ryu started slowly," I think we have a problem."

"Like what?"

Ren spoke for him, his arm propping his head up on the table while he stared at the TV. "Anna hasn't come downstairs since lunch. She's still up in Hao's room."

"Yeah, she said she wanted to talk to him about something, but she never told me what it was," he said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"She said that to us four hours ago," Horo-Horo replied.

"So?"

"Sounds kind of fishy to me," Chocolove said from beside Manta," I've never seen Hao speak for more than brief periods at separate times. He likes to stay quiet."

"It's been a little long for just talking, Chief, if you get my point."

"I trust Anna, and so should you guys. She wouldn't do anything like that."

"Well," Ren said again," We know she wouldn't do something like that willingly. It's Hao we don't trust."

Yoh thought about what Goldva had said three weeks ago. The one accusation that he had never heard about was the one instance of rape. He tossed that possibility out the window almost as soon as he thought of it. Anna was the last person he could think of as being defenseless. "She wouldn't let that happen. And, frankly, I don't think Hao would do anything to her."

"Why do you say that? He's not exactly the most innocent person on Earth," said the Ainu.

"He, well, didn't look like he was in the mood for anything before I left. He looked kind of upset."

"Are we talking about the same Hao," Faust questioned for the first time this evening," You know, the one who ate your soul?"

"Yes. He looked…sad. That's all I could think of to describe him."

"Yeah. I bet he cried his eyes out when Anna slapped him too," the Chinese mocked.

"No. It wasn't like that. He just looked…I don't know. It was strange," Yoh admitted.

"Well, Chief, I believe you," Ryu assured," But, I suggest we get dinner going. Tamao is in the kitchen getting ready. What are we cooking?"

"Beef curry, I think."

"Hmm…Anna never suggests that. I thought she hated it."

"She does," he said, making it sound more like a question that a statement.

"Well, we better cook it anyway. She'll have our throats if we don't."

"Right," Yoh said, forcing himself up on his sore feet," Let's get moving."

The three shaman/cooks began to work, the sounds and smells they created resonating from the kitchen echoing around the house. It took a grueling hour to get everything done for the large crowd of spiritually tuned guests, but it got done nonetheless. The table ended up covered in large plates loaded to overfilling with different types of rice, beef curry, leeks, fish, dumplings, bread, and last but not least, a heaping bowl of ripe oranges Yoh had brought back from the States. He eyed them with protective ownership.

With all of the inn's residents watching him, Yoh walked over to the staircase and called up.

"Hao? Anna? Dinner is ready!"

Anna responded almost immediately, "We're coming Yoh."

Satisfied, Yoh walked back to the table and sat down on the corner. Soon after he took his seat, Anna came in to the room. She sat at her usual spot at the head of the table, beside Yoh. To her fiancé, she looked liked she always did. The only thing different was a hint of calm smugness to her presence.

Hao followed her in, his footsteps barely audible. He looked paler than normal, but it wasn't a huge difference. Walking past Anna, he took the only available seat between to Yoh and Tamao. He said nothing. Everything went deathly quiet.

Horo-Horo was the first to beak the ice. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"

"Idiot," his tongari spiked neighbor hissed.

"Fine," Anna said," let's eat."

The assembled shaman dug in to the delicious food, the very essence of it disappearing down their gullets. The foodstuffs began to deplete drastically in a matter of minutes. Yoh reached for his precious oranges, intent on saving them from merciless destruction. The tension eased as time went on, slowly relaxing in to an air of peaceful conversations.

Like this morning, Hao was the only one who stared at his plate.

"Hao. Eat."

He looked up at the itako speaking to him. She motioned to the curry in front of her.

"Take some."

He eyed the brown food with disdain. "What kind is it," he asked her.

"Its beef curry."

Hao narrowed his eyes at the curry, wondering whether or not it was safe to eat. Almost cruelly, his stomach rumbled loudly. He grimaced.

Yoh turned his attention back to his twin. "What was that?"

Hao stared back at him. Like a divine twist of fate, his stomach let out another vicious growl.

Yoh laughed and reached for the curry. "If you're hungry, you should eat. Here, he said, shoving a chopstick laden with the curry in to his mouth.

The ex-shaman glared at his younger self. Never before had anyone dared to do such a thing as shove food in his mouth. Reluctantly, he swallowed.

"Well? Is it good?"

He didn't reply at first, but looked at the curry with an almost murderous glare. Sighing, he grabbed the plate from his twin and put some on his plate. He slowly began to eat at a carefully controlled pace.

Yoh grinned at him, content that his cooking skills were at least good enough for Hao.

ooOOooOOoo

That took me less time to complete than I thought it would. Geez, like a week ahead of schedule… Wow.

Yeah, the area of the house isn't a crack number. Takei put it in volume 3, along with a drawing of the layout of the En Inn. I forgot he even put it there until I reread the series for the final volume of Shaman King, which I ordered! Yay! :D

This one wasn't as ridiculously long as chapter four, but it's still a beast.

I support long chapters!


	6. Sherlock Holmes

Chapter Six

Sherlock Holmes

A/N:

Hello again! I hope you at least sort of liked the last chapter. It felt shorter than all my other ones and I didn't enjoy writing it as much…oh well. Funga fu fu.

The first half of this installment was originally included in the last chapter, but I decided that it would make it extremely long. So, I added it to this one! :D

This one is quite special, at least in some aspects. It helps build to the climax, which I'm *planning* to have in chapter eight. I've finally decided exactly how I want this fic to end, so…yeah. Look forward to at _least_ six more really long chapters. Prolly more. 

I keep reading from different places, both in raw Japanese and English, two different ways to spell onmyôji. I'm pretty sure it's spelled 'onmyôji', but I've also seen it spelled 'onmyôuji.' I'll use the former for this fic. It's not a big issue, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. D:

Stress of the last two weeks has really started to get to me. School, relationships, life, and pretty much everything else is falling apart around me. This fan fiction and is what's keeping me happy for the moment, along with the final ending of SK. It was amazing, and I couldn't ask for anything better. Whoa, cheesy…. lol

I've gotten a few comments about the 'rape' thing in the last chapter…it won't be made clear for a while, but just keep in mind that's it's not what you'd think.

I do not own _Shaman King, _which belongs to Hiroyuki Takei. I also don't own Sherlock Holmes or any songs by Nickelback.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Yoh walked home from the Heiyu supermarket the day after his homecoming from America. His arms were laden with numerous grocery bags, totaling five in all. Luckily for him, Anna's training had toned his biceps and thus, he didn't have any trouble carrying the load three miles back to the old inn. The cloudless sunset overhead lit his was back home. It promised a perfectly warm night.

Neither Anna nor Hao had told him of what they had talked about, much to his pleading. It bugged him that they were keeping secrets, but it couldn't be helped. The two were a formidable duo that threatened to hurt him if he should feel the need to ask any more.

Hao had not spoken much to anyone in the past twenty-four hours, at least to Yoh's knowledge. After Anna had thrown him against the wall and laid down the rules to him, he had holed himself up in his room. He only came down to eat, which he was forced to do, and to bathe, which he had done on his own accord. Anna, surprisingly enough, had dismissed him of training with Yoh for the time being.

His feet carried him off the hard black asphalt and on to the packed dirt road that led to the inn. It was still a mile off, but the trek seemed never-ending. His mind wandered back to Hao. He still had not the slightest idea of how to help him find happiness. It would be hard to do, he knew well, but he was determined to do so. Whatever it took, he would do it. It was just the matter of getting there.

"Yoh!"

Yoh whipped around to face the person who had shouted his name in accented English. His surprised gaze was met by a bouncing greenette running to catch up to him.

"Lyserg?"

"It's good to see you again! Anna got you to get the groceries, I see," he laughed, trotting over to the stunned shaman.

"It's…training. Not to be rude, but what are you doing in Japan? Here of all places," he asked stupidly.

"To visit you guys of course! I felt bad about ditching you back in the States, so I flew over to come stay for a while. Great isn't it!"

Yoh looked at Lyserg thoroughly. The old X-Laws uniform had been replaced with his plaid detective's trench coat. He was carrying a large duffle bag, presumably filled with clothes.

"You OK, Yoh? You're spacing out on me."

"Wha? Sorry, Lyserg. You just surprised me."

"Same old, same old I guess," he laughed again, his green eyes lighting up.

"Pretty much," Yoh laughed," Come on, I was just bringing this stuff home for dinner."

"Sweet! What're we having?"

"Uh…I don't know. Whatever Anna wants. She just told me to get fresh food on my way back from training."

"Alright. Want some help carrying those?"

"No," he sighed," she'll have my head if she finds out."

"I don't want that. Let's go, I'm starving!"

"Follow me," Yoh suggested, turning around and walking back in the direction of the inn.

Lyserg began to chatter aimlessly about random things about life back in England. His accented Japanese switched to English and back throughout their walk, and Yoh tried to follow along. His rapid-fire English was difficult to understand, sometimes requiring Yoh to have him stop and repeat in his native tongue. Aside from that, he let Lyserg do all the talking. It was fine with him; the British boy barely registered his silence.

Just as they were walking under the stone archway, Lyserg popped the million dollar question. Not the marriage one, the _other _one. The one Yoh had completely spaced on.

"Hey, Yoh? Whatever happened to Hao? Marco had us leave before we could find out anything."

_ Oh shit…_

"Yoh? Are you OK? It was just a question. Don't have a coronary."

_ Oh Great Spirit…_

"Sorry, I know it's sort of a touchy subject with you. Forget I said anything," the greenette apologized, sliding the door open in to the house. Yoh followed him in horrified silence.

"No offense, but you guys are strange with all this taking off shoes when you go in houses. Back in England, we don't normally do that," he said, kicking off his loafers in the process," My room is the one upstairs, right? The first one on the right? You said that I could use that when I came to visit."

"Mgmhs."

"Was that Japanese or gibberish? I didn't catch that."

"Uh…Lyserg. I just realized that maybe now is not the _best_ time for you to be here," he forced himself to say, sweat dropping.

"What do you mean it's not….," he stopped, thinking about what Yoh had just said to him. His detective's instincts kicked in to max power, and he began to formulate aloud. "Your silence is greatly troubling. It must be a sign. You would never turn away a guest, especially one who has traveled such from great a distance as England. So, it must have something to do specifically with me…Now what could that be? Think Lyserg. Think. You went silent just after I asked you what happened…to…Hao…_Oh god. Oh sweet merciful lord! He's here!"_

"Lyserg! Wait! Let me explain," Yoh pleaded, although he knew it was pointless.

The other shaman screamed with rage. He turned and ran into inn at full speed, already making an oversoul. Shouts of surprise and shock ensued from the resident shaman inside. Yoh ran after the boy, fearing for his twin's life.

"Chief," Ryu cried," Lyserg is here!"

"Out of my way, Ryu! He knows Hao is here!"

_ "WHERE IS HE?!"_

"Somebody grab him," Yoh shouted after the sprinting Lyserg. The seething British had run through the entire bottom floor, knocking down doors that obstructed his path, of the house by the time Yoh had located him at the foot of the stairs. The two locked gazes at they came within range of each other.

"Lyserg," Yoh began very slowly," We can work this out peacefully. He's perfectly harmless. There's no reason for you to---."

"_He killed my family! How can you say he's harmless," _the boy shrieked.

"Calm down. Don't make me do anything drastic. Ple---."

"_You_ _signed his death warrant the moment you saved him_," he screamed, bounding up the stairs.

"Here," Anna said from behind Yoh. She held out Harusame and the King's Sword," Stop him from ruining my inn."

Yoh ran up the stairs with already oversoul in hand after Lyserg, not bothering to thank her. He reached the top of the stairs to find that the rice door to Hao's room had been thrown clear off its hinges. He darted inside.

"What the _hell_? I was sleeping you _moron_," the drowsy ex-pyro growled from his futon at the green-haired intruder standing above him. A white summer yukata clad his thin frame along with a pair of black boxers. Lyserg was busy whispering some prayer of death the Iron Maiden had taught him to notice Yoh's entrance. "If you don't mind you little pest, leave before my knight in shining oversoul comes in and pummels you to the floor," he noticed Yoh," Ah, too late. He's here."

"Shut up Hao," Yoh shouted. He launched himself forward just as Lyserg finished his prayer and raised the dowsing pendulum over Hao. The two collided in a loud, full-blown tackle of bodies and oversouls. They tumbled over the floor as Hao watched, amused at the proceedings.

"Get off me," the English shrieked," He's the enemy! Not me!"

"No," Yoh said, latching on to Lyserg's back.

"Fine! I'll kill him with or without your bloody help," he screeched, and flung out his pendulum toward Hao. The ex-shaman dropped back to the floor from his sitting position. It lodged itself in to the wall behind him with a blast of flying wood.

"Morphine! After him," Lyserg commanded. The little pink fairy dislodged her plane of an oversoul from the wall and aimed herself at Hao. The crystal locked on to his head and flew toward him at blinding speed.

"Hao! Move," Yoh warned while trying to break the greenette's concentration.

Hao scrambled out of the futon and dived to the left of the flying pendulum. It arched wide overhead and pointed its nose straight down at him. He rolled over toward the window alcove toward the only defense he had. The pager sat innocently on the chair until he grabbed it and whipped around to face the crystal. It came flying back at him with a high pitched whistling sound. Hao aimed the pager as if it were a bat and swung at the oversoul. He knew it wouldn't serve to even dent the pendulum, but it was certainly better than his head. The oracle pager exploded in a shower of metal, glass, and circuit chips.

"Lyserg," Yoh pleaded," Stop! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Stay out of this," he commanded, breaking free of Yoh's grasp. He launched himself off the floor and pulled back the wire of the pendulum. He walked confidently toward Hao, who had backed away from the British boy against the wall, and took out the gun from his belt holster.

"You killed my parents, and now, I will get my revenge," he seethed. Lyserg aimed the derringer between Hao's dark eyes. "I hope you burn in hell," he whispered, and pulled the trigger.

Yoh's massive oversoul shot out from the right side of the room and sliced the angelic bullet in half. Zelel burst in a ball of bright light and disappeared. No sooner than the oversoul disengaged, Yoh once again launched himself at Lyserg, and the two tumbled around the room again.

"Stop this," Yoh commanded," You're acting stupid!"

"I told you to stay out of this! It doesn't concern you!"

"Yes, it does Lyserg," he reasoned," He's my brother!"

"That didn't stop you from attacking him last time," the younger shouted from below, wriggling frantically to get away.

"I know that, but he had to be stopped. There was no other way at the time."

"So how is that different now? He's still a murderer!"

"I told you earlier. He's harmless now."

"Harmless my ass!"

"You're mind is clouded by revenge! You aren't thinking straight!"

Lyserg screamed, "You're defending him! I don't believe this!"

"What happened to the Lyserg I knew?"

"He grew up!"

Yoh punched him across the face. "You didn't grow up. You're acting like a little kid who doesn't get his way."

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up and listen to me. I know what he's done. I _know _he's a murderer. I brought him here to try and change him."

"You're just wasting your time! People like him can't be changed!"

"And how would you know that," Yoh challenged," People _can _change. Look at Ren. He was a murderer, but he changed his ways."

"We're not talking about Ren! He didn't kill hundreds of innocent people!"

"It's the same principal."

"I've had it with you! Get off of me," he commanded. Lyserg suddenly shoved Yoh with all of his weight to the floor and pinned him there.

"Sorry Yoh. I can't have you interfering with this," he apologized, raising his fist to knock him out as he did so.

He had expected the world to go black, but it actually did the opposite. A golden oversoul appeared overhead, followed by a startled cry.

"Wha—_oof," _the greenette exclaimed. The pressure on Yoh's stomach alleviated as the boy went flying. He landed a few feet away, the wind knocked out of him. The owner of the golden Chinese sword began to address the boy in an annoyed tone.

"If you want to fight him so bad, go ahead. I won't stop you."

"Ren," Yoh said, aghast," He'll kill Hao!"

"I've got his pendulum and gun," he stated simply, holding the two items up to show the younger twin. "They need to work this out by themselves."

"But---."

"Shut up. He won't forgive you if you stop him now," Ren warned. He bared the way between Yoh and the other two people in the room with his Zan Mai oversoul. A nostalgic tone emanated from him, causing Yoh to stop talking at once. The Chinese knew what he was doing, Yoh hazarded guessing. He just hoped it wouldn't get anyone killed. Reluctantly, he turned uneasily to watch the scene unfold in front of him.

Lyserg stood back up and turned to his enemy across the room. Hao stood up as well, the defiant look in his eyes causing them to glow furiously. The younger attacked first, running at the ex-shaman at full speed. He ducked out of the way without much thought. His adversary staggered forward at the lack of resistance, falling when nothing collided with his tackle. Lyserg grabbed Hao's ankle on the way down and dragged him to the floor as well. Instantly, the two became one in a fast, rolling, human ball of flailing fists and angry shrieks.

The fight turned gory within a matter of seconds. Hollow _thumps _echoed across the room as punches met their target. Clothing ripped when nails and teeth latched on to them. At some point, Hao's fist had broken Lyserg's nose and blood spattered across the tan bamboo flooring. Lyserg yanked on Hao's hair, causing the dark brown strands to fall in large clumps where the two claimed war. Profanities of different time periods and languages accompanied the screeching pair.

The sound of a sickening _snap, _followed by a blood-curdling scream ended Yoh's silent vigil.

"That's enough! Stop it," he shouted at the two, jumping up and pushing past Ren. He didn't give any inclination that he would stop Yoh's advance. With a sudden burst of strength from some reserve he didn't even know he had, the younger of the twins grabbed Lyserg by the waist and tossed him aside. The two lay on the floor, panting in rapid succession.

"Who's hurt," he asked in an uncharacteristically angry voice.

"Lyserg is fine, but I think his nose is broken," the Chinese shaman stated, looking at the British boy clutching his nose.

Yoh looked at his twin a few feet in front of him. His forehead was pressed against the floor, but he could tell by the ex-shaman's body posture that he was the one who had suffered the serious injury. His left shoulder was, once again, twisted in the same awkward angle that it had been over a month. Hao's body was rigid in agony, shaking ever so noticeably.

"Not again," Yoh sighed, sitting down by him," Could you get Faust for me Ren?"

"No need, Yoh. I'm here," the German doctor announced in his usual soft voice right on cue, rolling in with his wife just behind him. "I heard all the noise from outside and came in to get my bag ready, just in case," He looked at Lyserg, he gaze analyzing the boy to the bone," He's fine. Get him out of here, Ren, until I can deal with that nose later."

Ren complied wordlessly, pulling the British boy along by the collar out of the room and down the stairs. They left without a sound.

"Eliza, my love, if you please," the Faust said. The mocherie of a wife took out Frankeinstinny's bones from under the wheelchair and placed them by his feet. With a few choice words of German, they attached themselves to his feet and the doctor stood up. He took the worn medical bag from Eliza and kneeled down beside Hao, already reaching inside for supplies. He took out a sling and placed it next to him.

"Hao, can you still hear me?"

"…Yeah," said he moaned in to the floor.

"Good. I have to relocate your shoulder," he began," You were unconscious last time, so you didn't really get to live through it. I won't lie to you. It's going to hurt like hell. First, though, I have to flip you over on to your back. Whenever you're ready, Yoh. Help me keep his arm against him as I do so. Carefully, if you don't mind."

Yoh did as he was told, trying not to hurt him in the process. It wasn't easy. Hao gasped as his arm was moved, stiffening at the contact.

"Okay. One, two, three, now," the doctor commanded. He quickly flipped the ex-shaman over with an experienced air about him. Yoh let go once the arm he was told to hold on to was placed down on his twin's side. Hao let out a soft gasp, but was otherwise quiet. Yoh noticed that his pupils had contracted to thin circles, giving him the impression that Hao had gone momentarily insane.

"Ready," Faust asked him.

"…Yes."

"Alright. Here we go," the doctor said, rotating his arm at the elbow so that it was perpendicular to the bamboo flooring. Next, he placed the limp arm over his stomach, creating an 'L' shape with it. Slowly, Faust took hold of Hao's upper arm and pushed it gently up toward his shoulder and held it there. After a few seconds, a dull _pop! _was heard and Hao released a pent up breath as the pain in his shoulder lessened dramatically.

"That went better that I could have hoped for. Usually, I have to do it at least twice for it to pop back in like that," the doctor admitted, taking the sling from beside him, "You can sit up now. I'll help you put this on."

Hao complied, raising his upper body off the floor. Faust slid the sling over his head settled his arm in to it.

"I would give you morphine, but if the last time you had it is anything to go by, it's probably not the best idea," the doctor said with a sheepish look to Yoh," How about some Ibuprofen and ice instead? It's not the greatest, but it works."

"Fine," Hao whispered.

"Okay. Eliza? Can you fill up the ice pack for me," he asked of his wife. She took the empty blue bag from his outstretched hand left without a word. The doctor fished in his medical bag for the elusive bottle of pain killers and pulled it out. He unscrewed the childproof lock and offered two of the dull brown pills to Hao. "Do you want some water---uh, never mind," he said as he watched the ex-pyro down the pills dry.

Yoh watched as his twin suddenly stood up and walked back over to his futon. He didn't show any sign that his shoulder hurt anymore, but that was probably just Hao's enormous ego. He sat down with a small _huff _on his bed as Eliza walked back in with the ice pack, filled. Hao took it without thanking her and lay down inside the futon, burying himself in the thick blankets with the ice pack placed precariously over his shoulder.

"Yoh."

Said shaman turned around to face the doctor that had spoken to him.

"He should be good for a while. Just let him sleep it off."

"Thanks Faust," he said for his twin," Can you help me with the door? Lyserg blew it off the slide."

Faust turned to look at the open space that he had apparently rolled through. "Fine."

The two had the door back up in no time, at least with a little help from their friend, the silver roll of duck tape. It would hold for now, but Hao would have to walk through Yoh's room if he wanted to leave. Not that Yoh was complaining, as he would know if either his brother or anyone else decided to make surprise a visit during the night.

Once finished with the task, Faust turned to the rather smug looking Yoh. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure. About what?"

"What do you plan to do to Hao?"

The question caught him off guard. He still hadn't gotten his ideas set in stone, but at least he had a general direction to follow.

"I want to get him to trust me."

The German shaman pondered his answer for a moment, thinking it over, "How do you suppose you'll do that? He's never really gotten close to anyone. Well, at least not anyone I've heard of."

"I'm not sure yet. But, I'm confident that it's possible."

"You always are. 'Everything will work out,' right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

He sat back down in his wheelchair, disengaging his oversoul legs in the process, "And Yoh?"

"Yeah," he asked, already walking back downstairs ahead of the doctor.

"Why do you think he's turned out like this after one thousand years?"

"I don't really know, Faust. No one has bothered to get close enough to him to find out."

"Hmm…"

"Come on, Lyserg's probably having a hernia by now. I'll go get dinner ready. Let me know when you're done fixing his nose. I'd like to speak to him."

"I'm coming. Eliza, if you please. I ask of your assistance once more to help this unlucky soul down the stairs."

The two shamans left to go to their respective jobs of cook and doctor. In the other room, Hao lay on his right side wide awake, their conversation still ringing in his head.

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh climbed back up the stairs in the direction of his room. Dinner had been a nightmare, with the still-pissed Lyserg glaring at each of the Inn's residents in turn throughout the meal. He had spoken to the greenette shortly after Faust had repaired his broken nose, but it could have gone much smoother without the added injury to his pride. With the help of Ren, Horo-Horo, Manta, Ryu, Chocolove, and Faust, Yoh had convinced Lyserg to stop his mad attack on Hao, at least for the time being. It had taken all of them a solid hour to get that far, and Yoh was willing to call it a day. Still, this afternoon wasn't the best reunion that he could have hoped for. Anna had let Hao stay up in him room and skip dinner for tonight only, on grounds that she wanted to eat in semi peace. No one had rejected the motion.

After taking a much needed baths, the residents of the inn had all dispersed to sleep. All but Yoh, Anna, and Hao had been banned from second floor of the house. It was quieter, and for that he was grateful for once, but it felt a little empty without the guys romping around in mock fights in his room.

Clad in an identical summer yukata to his twin, he entered his room. For the last three years, the room had served as a refuge to him. A sweet reprieve at the end of a long day from his fiancé in which he could sleep to his heart's content. Well, not really, as he had to get up at the crack of dawn every morning. Still, the room was home. But behind the all the Soul Bob posters and numerous records and cassette tapes littering the floor, it felt different somehow. His life had changed so much in the last year; it felt as if nothing would ever go back to normal. Not even his simple room at the old En Inn.

Bringing home his long-lost twin had been less than an ideal situation, for him and for Anna. She seemed more detached now than ever to him, and he knew she was worried for his own life in her own way. Their marriage would never be threatened, in the relationship aspect at least. He wasn't worried about his decision, but he couldn't help but get the impression that Anna was. She trusted him to do what he promised to do, and she didn't have any qualms about living with his sometimes insane brother, at least not anymore. That's what made them such a great pair. They balanced each other's thoughts, emotions, and fears in every way possible.

Her worry was rooted to the other side of the deal: Hao's cooperation in all of this. She wasn't ready enough to trust him, and neither was Hao ready for her. Yoh realized this and made a silent pact that he would make up for her worries. He just never realized that the opportunity to do so would come so soon.

The clock on the floor beside his futon read 10:00 PM. He yawned hugely, exhausted from the day's proceedings. Tomorrow was another day of blood, sweat, and tears. He climbed in to the futon, passing out in a dead sleep as his head hit the soft pillow.

*****

The sound of nearby shuffling woke the sleeping teen from his peaceful dream. His room was pitch black, the light of the sun long since faded. Blindly, he reached for the clock above his head. He stared at it long and hard, wondering who in their right mind would be up at the ungodly hour of 1:32 AM.

"Who's there?"

No one answered his half-mumbled question.

_ Time to go back to sleep, Yoh. You're just imagining things again._ And with that, he closed his eyes again and surrendered his mind to sleep.

A muffled noise echoed from the room to his left.

His eyes shot back open. _Now what? He stayed awake a few more minutes, waiting for the sound he thought he had heard to repeat itself again. Just as he was, once again, about to fall unconscious, the strange sound replicated, but this time a little louder._

_ What was that?_ He sat up in his futon, rubbing sleep from his eyes. _It came from…Hao's room? I didn't hear anyone come in……Well, _he thought, _I better go see what it is. Just in case. Yoh reluctantly crawled out of his oh-so-warm futon and stood up on sleep-derived legs. He staggered over to the door connecting the two rooms and slowly drew it open, peering inside._

"Hao," he called out," You okay?"

No one answered him.

He looked in to the dark interior of his twin's room and tried to make out the outline of the bed. It was empty, the sheets and sling tossed aside. "Hao," he called out more loudly, concerned as to where his twin went.

That strange sound resonated again from the direction of the window alcove. Curious, Yoh followed it to the source. He walked over to the little side room and found his twin curled up in the chair to his left, his arms wrapped around his shins.

"There you are. You had me worried that something happened to you. Come on, now's not the time to stargaze. You need to sleep."

Hao's bowed head didn't register that he had even heard his twin speak, much less knew that he was there.

"Hao? You feeling alright?"

The strange noise he had heard earlier emanated from Hao, and Yoh realized with shock that what he had dismissed as his twin moving around was, in all actuality, a strangled sob.

"Hao?"

Hao's body shook in the aftermath of the last sob he had uttered. His arms that were wrapped around his thin legs tightened as he continued to fight off the wave of emotions that ravaged him.

Yoh walked the two feet between them and took the sides of his brother's face in his hands, forcing him to look eye to eye. The questions he had forming in his head vanished as he took in the sight.

Tears flowed freely down his twin's soaked cheeks. His face was contorted in to absolute anguish, definitely not something Yoh was prepared for. Hao's teeth were clenched as he tried to fight off yet another sob threatening to force its way out of his mouth. But what really shook him to the core were his eyes. The red-rimmed dark chocolate brown orbs proved a fountain for his never-ending river of tears. They showed every horrible emotion that a person could feel, some of them not even Yoh could place. With an even more astounding revelation, the younger of the twins realized that the familiar glassy look in his brother's eyes could only point to one thing: he was asleep.

"Hao, wake up," he tried to command at the doppelganger in front of him," Please wake up. You're having a night---."

Hao let out an ear-piercing wail the likes of which Yoh had never heard before and probably never would again. He felt his soul clench as the scream bombarded him. It was the type of sound that he imagined only dying children were able to create. The hairs on the back of Yoh's neck rose at the horrific cry of agony. He wasn't even aware that Hao could make such a sound, let alone that he knew how to.

Yoh instantly latched on to his twin's shaking form and pulled him in to a deep embrace. Hao's unconscious efforts to stop himself from crying finally failed him as his sobs came harder and louder. His arms suddenly flung out from where they had previously been and wrapped themselves tightly around Yoh' torso in a grip that squeezed the air out of Yoh's lungs. Yoh held on less powerfully, not willing to crush him that hard.

They held each other, in reality and in the dream world. Hao's dreadful sobbing continued to come in forcefully, leaving the ex-shaman's body in ragged waves that he was incapable of stopping. The two of them stayed like they were for the longest of times, until Hao was nearly screaming in to Yoh's yukata. No one woke up and came in to see what the matter was, or just plain didn't care. At any rate, Yoh was glad that they didn't intrude. He doubted that they would let Hao live it down if they saw him in his current condition, regardless of whether or not he was asleep.

Yoh rubbed his twin's back during the entire episode and murmured meaningless things; it was about the only thing he could do. Eventually, Hao began to calm down, his wracking sobs diminishing to quiet weeping as the powerful emotions left him exhausted. After a moment when he had finally relaxed his death grip on his twin, Yoh pulled away slowly. He met no resistance as Hao's arms dropped back to his sides, true sleep beginning to take over his system.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed," Yoh spoke softly. He lifted Hao over his shoulder like a little kid (albeit that this kid was the same height) from the chair and carried him to the other side of the room. Pausing for a second, he changed his course back to his own futon in the next room over. He placed his long-haired twin inside the thick sheets and climbed in next to him. By the time he did so, Hao was already softly snoring, deep in peaceful sleep.

"Goodnight, Hao," he whispered, his own unconsciousness finally taking a hold of his mind.

* * *

ooOOooOOoo

I hope that served as some good brain fodder. Serious business that stuff is.

This chapter took me so long to publish because I've been a little hesitant about the last scene. I'm a hypochondriac about what people will say, but that's just me.

I like messing with people's heads. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that readers have not the slightest idea what I'm going to throw in to the SK boiling pot. Don't worry: that last part was supposed to confuse you, if it did at all. *insert evil laughter*

Cookies go to those who know what Hao was dreaming about.

I also hope that all of you realize why I had Lyserg and Hao fight each other. I really don't like to hurt Hao… *cries*

And no, I'm not turning this yaoi. I like some yaoi, but I don't want to write that. No offense though. I've got nothing against it, especially since my own mother is gay.

Thanks guys for reading! Reviews make me smile. Just log in if you don't mind when you guys do it, so that I can respond to you. I like doing that. :)

~SemperMemor


	7. Viva la Vida

Chapter Seven

Viva la Vida

A/N:

I've changed my mind folks. The next chapter contains the climax, not this one. I wrote half of this and thought that I needed to add some things that I was going to push off to afterwards. But, I decided to put them here. It would drag on the next chapter forever, and thus, I think it would be distracting after reading so much in one installment. I'm just making sure that it will come out right, instead of half-assed. :D

Yeah, I get to pick on Hao. It's too fun to pass up.

I hope that if you are reading this that you have at least finished reading the Ozorezan Reservoir arc in the main SK story. If you haven't, then…blah.

BTW, I think the plural form shaman _is _shaman. Shamen isn't a word and shamans sounds a little strange to me. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. And what do you call a group of shaman? I have no clue, but I'm tempted to make a name for them…

I chose the title of the chapter rather for what it means than the actual song. It literally means 'live the life.'

I do not own _Shaman King, _which belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, or any songs by Nickelback and Coldplay. This is merely a work of fiction, much to my own disappointment.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Yoh awoke to a set of brown eyes identical to his own staring intently back at him. He cried out, rolling away from them and burying himself back in to the covers of his futon.

"What the hell were you thinking last night? Were you drunk?"

"What," Yoh questioned toward the angry voice coming from somewhere above him.

"I woke up to find your drooling mug mere inches from mine and realized that I had no idea when, why, or how I got here. Give me some answers before I beat them out of you."

"I…," his mind came up blank.

"You're useless. You probably can't even remember our own family _name_ at this hour of the day."

"Wait…what time is it?"

"Quarter after seven."

"Why didn't my alarm go off!"

"Silly humans and their instruments are beyond my comprehension."

"Breakfast has to be ready in forty-five minutes! Anna will kill me!"

"Oh, well. I never liked you anyway."

"You're going to help," he commanded, jumping out from beneath the bed covers and grabbing Hao by the front of his yukata.

"Let go of me," he shouted back, attempting to rip his twin's hand off with his own.

"Tough luck. Rules of the house mandate that you get to do what I say until you learn how to respect others."

"You insolent brat! I only agreed to those rules so that Anna would let me go!"

"She wrote a spell for it," he declared, letting go of Hao," Apparently she used one of the methods that she found in your book."

Hao's angry face took on a pale hue.

"She wouldn't tell me what would happen if you refused, though. She said you knew."

"Fine," he uttered quickly.

"Is it that bad of a punishment?"

"Never mind," he said, shaking his head and causing the long hair behind him to sway at the motion," Let's move."

With his eyes still clouded from sleep, Yoh walked out of the sun drenched room. Hao followed behind, yawning as his muscles stretched. They climbed down the stairs and made their way around the house to the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well," the younger asked.

"Why do you want to know," he said bitterly.

"Just curious."

"You're just trying to hide the fact that you're concerned for my health. I don't need a sling."

"Yeah. You're absolutely right," Yoh mocked.

"Somebody grew a backbone overnight. A very flimsy one, mind you."

"Just answer the question, Hao. You don't have to be so moody first thing in the morning."

"Well, I'm feeling generous today, so I'll enlighten you with my thoughts. The answer to your question is no, I did not."

Yoh stopped in his tracks, the flood of last night's memories finally returning to him. With a startled look at Hao, who was walking away as Yoh stood there, he forced his mind to draw a complete blank. The elder of the two stopped as well, his back to his twin.

"What were you just thinking?"

"Uh…I forgot."

"Yeah," he said, turning and walking over to him," and I'm a princess." Hao shoved him against the wall and drew his face close to his twin. His eyes searched Yoh's looking for an answer. They burned with fire suddenly as he locked his _reishi _onto Yoh's mind.

"What are you hiding from me," he demanded, his voice taking on strangely hollow and foreboding aspect. Yoh stared back, the blank wall of his thoughts protecting his mind from Hao's dangerous one.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about what Anna wanted for breakfast."

"You know that you're a terrible liar?"

"Yes."

Hao's eyes narrowed as he continued to search for anything that would give away, anything at all, about what his twin had been thinking. He found nothing, just blank resistance.

He _huffed_ out of annoyance, turning around and storming away from Yoh in to the kitchen. His twin followed shortly after.

_ That was close. _

"I heard that. Don't think that I won't find out."

"Whatever you say, Hao."

"Where do you keep your knives?"

"Uh…last drawer on the right," he admitted apprehensively. Somehow, he didn't think that Hao should have access to them.

"I'm just helping," the elder assured, taking out a large butcher's knife," Or do you not want me to?"

"No, I appreciate it."

"Good, my service rarely is," he grumbled and walked around the room, searching the drawers," What are we cooking?"

"Mmm…Rice and eggs?"

"You don't sound sure of yourself," he mocked, opening up the fridge," What does she normally eat?"

"Rice and eggs."

"That's boring," he looked around inside," Let's make something better."

"Like what," he asked.

He sneered wickedly at his twin, popping his head up over the door of the fridge to do so. The action made Yoh uneasy.

"Excellent," he laughed cruelly, "You can leave me alone now."

"I'm not sure that Anna will…," he began, but the rest died out as he took in the vicious glare that Hao flashed him.

"Grow up. I won't poison the food."

"I…Anna…."

The ex-pyro growled and slammed the fridge door shut. He walked over to the Yoh, spun him around, and pushed him out of the room. The sliding door shut behind him with a loud _snap. _

Confused at what just happened, the young shaman sat down at the table and stared in to space. The sounds of chopping and dicing soon accompanied soft footsteps from within. With nothing better to do than stare in to space, Yoh laid down his head and surrendered to sleep.

****

It felt like barely a second had passed by when the younger of the Asakura twins was hit painfully in the back of the head with a hard, blunt object.

"Ouch," he shrieked from the floor, clutching his skull. Seeing pretty white stars dancing around his field of vision, he looked up at his attacker. Hao, unsurprising, stood above him with a rather smug look on his face, a large frying pan held in his right hand.

"You hit me with a pan," he said incredulously.

"Yes, I did. It was very satisfying, too," he smirked, raising the pan again to hit him a second time.

"OK, I'm awake! What do you want?"

Hao stopped aiming, "Set the table. Your lady will want food momentarily."

"Fine," he assured," help me up."

"I don't feel like it," Hao admitted with a shrug, walking back in to the kitchen.

Yoh groaned, and nimbly jumped up to his feet. He slid the door of the kitchen open and walked in. He stood in the doorway, too shocked to say anything.

The small island in the middle of the room and the counters beyond were covered in massive plates of prepared food. Among them, Yoh could make out yakizakana, kare raisu, onigri, and yakodon. There was also another dish that he had never seen before that looked like a loaf of freshly baked wheat bread. The cuisine appeared to have come straight out of the Heian era and looked and smelled absolutely delicious. His mouth watered while his stomach growled menacingly.

"You like?"

He turned around to face Hao, a smile spreading on his face. The onmyôji stood impassive with his arms across his chest, watching his twin for a response.

"This is uncommonly kind of you, Hao."

He snorted. "Don't get that idea stuck in your head. I didn't do it for you. I was just sick of the lowly things that you make. They can barely pass off as edible."

"You keep telling that to yourself. You're just embarrassed at the fact that you actually did something nice for a change."

"I would never do anything _nice _for some bastard such as you," he scowled.

"Whatever. I don't believe you."

"Don't 'whatever' someone who just slaved over a stove for the last hour in the sake of feeding your sorry ass."

"Actually, it was forty-five minutes," he corrected.

"Don't mock me. I'll snap your neck."

"Fine, just do it after Anna gets her food. You'll have a better chance of living after I die," he sighed, grabbing a few of the numerous plates and making his way back to the living room. Hao mimicked his actions, murmuring to himself as he did so.

"That's more like it."

Once all the plates, drinks, and utensils were out on the table, the residents of the inn began to file in a slow trickle. Ren, wide awake and dressed, was naturally the first. Followed by him were the half-dead bodies of Ryu, Horo-Horo and Chocolove. Manta and Tamao came next and sat down at their respective seats near Yoh. Faust came some time later, an IV drip already in his arm. Anna came second to last, eyeing the food with a critical eye and taking her usual seat to Yoh's left at the head of the table. Hao seated himself to his other side, intently waiting for the last person to enter the room.

_ Hao, _Yoh thought at him, knowing that he would hear it regardless of whether he wanted to hear it or not, _when he comes in, please don't say anything to him. He won't eat the food if he knows you made it all. _

The ex-shaman showed no outward sign that he had heard him. He only watched as Lyserg walked in from hallway and sat down stiffly across from him. His broken nose was bandaged awkwardly, making the British boy look like he had a white beak. Hao smirked at his accomplishment, his own shoulder not even bothering him. They glared daggers at each other.

Anna spoke sternly, addressing the growing tension in the room," I don't want any fighting this morning. The person to strike first gets kicked outside without food for the rest of the day and can clean the onsen with his own toothbrush. Now, I'm hungry, so let's eat."

With explosive vigor, the assembled crowd attacked the food in front of them. Horo² ate in massive bites, barely tasting, or even knowing what the things he stuffed down his throat were. Ren studied the food carefully, judging every aspect of the things he had never seen before eating them. Satisfied that they were OK to eat, he dug in with renewed hunger. Yoh tasted his twin's efforts like Ren had, but succumbed to nearly crying at the sheer deliciousness of it. Certainly, Hao was a much better cook than him. Even Anna and Lyserg ate more than their fill, a rare occasion for the former. Yoh couldn't help but feel a sense of smug accomplishment emanating from Hao, who ate his own food contentedly.

Anna suddenly turned to Yoh and gave him one of the only compliments he had ever received from her. He could have sobbed with happiness, but he knew it was really Hao who deserved the credit.

"The food is good Yoh. Almost too good for your skill level."

"Thanks Anna, I---."

"I made the food," Hao stated flatly, watching the boy opposite him as he did so.

Lyserg suddenly clutched his neck, trying to make himself vomit. The others situated around the table stared at Hao in stunned silence, but not taking the news to the extreme that the British shaman had.

"Lyserg, enough," Anna commanded," the food is fine. Great, actually."

Yoh stared at his fiancé with a bewildered look on his face.

"What," she questioned coldly," It is."

"Sorry to say it Yoh," Ren said," but your twin here beats you in the cooking field. By a long shot, too."

"I have to agree with him, Yoh. As much as I hate to say it, he beats your food any day," Horo-Horo seconded messily, his mouth still filled with food.

The other people assembled nodded in silent agreement.

"I don't believe this," Yoh whispered to himself.

By this time, Lyserg was on the floor faking fatal poisoning.

Hao cackled at both the unintelligent display of child-like behavior and the thrill of finally beating Yoh in something that didn't require shamanic powers to accomplish.

"Lyserg, he didn't poison the food," Yoh assured," He ate it himself, remember?"

"How could you know that," the greenette challenged, stopping the silly charade," it could be some sick suicide attempt."

"I didn't, but that's actually not a bad idea. At least it would get me away from him," he admitted, jabbing a thumb in Yoh's direction.

"If you ever do so, I will personally make sure that you spend your afterlife in eternal agony," the okami hissed.

"As long as I don't have to see your fiancé's face in hell, I really don't care. It doesn't matter anyway. You'll all be dead when my powers return."

The room went even quieter than it already was. Lyserg had had enough of this, standing up and storming out of the room without another word. Hao watched him go, waving goodbye to his back.

"Which reminds me," Anna said casually, throwing Yoh off guard," Goldva contacted me last night and said that she was sending over someone today. She would have come herself, especially after not visiting before we left, but she was too busy. Something urgent about the Great Spirit acting up. She wouldn't elaborate."

"How does that remind you of hell?"

"It's what we were planning on after they came that reminded me. You can do it tonight. I don't want any objections," she commanded.

"Why would I ever object to something like that?"

"Because you have to teach him before you get to do it."

It took Yoh a good minute to recall what they were conversing about. He paled as the realization hit him.

"What are you guys talking about," said a rather confused-looking Chocolove.

"Yeah," Horo-Horo said," You two aren't making any sense. You're hiding something good and I want to know what it is."

Anna looked at them, glancing at Hao before she addressed them," You'll know after the Patch Official comes. Whoever he is, he can't know, at least not today."

"Why? We won't say anything. It's not as if you're stealing the great Spirits," Ren questioned," You aren't, are you?"

"Not exactly," Hao replied, the corner of his mouth beginning to curl up in a smirk.

"Not now, I said," The itako warned with a sharp glare to him," You can tell them later."

"Anna? Do we really have do it," Yoh asked in an alarm pitch.

"Yes. No objections from you, either."

He laughed nervously.

"Good. Now if you're done eating, go do the dishes. As for the rest of you," she addressed the mixed crowd," and Yoh when he is done, I want this house absolutely spotless before the Patch comes. That includes you, Hao. Judging by the fact that you cooked and brought out these dishes, your shoulder is fine."

"It never hurt anyway."

"I don't care. The point is that you can move without injuring it."

"You can move without hurting yourself," the doctor asked, baffled," It should take at least a week for that to happen."

"I told you, I'm fine. See," Hao said with great annoyance at having to repeat himself. He showed Faust, lifting his arm straight out over Manta's head.

"Interesting…," he mumbled, starting to talk to himself in fast, complex German.

"What are you all still doing at this table? I said move," Anna commanded.

"Actually, future sister-in-law, you didn't. You said that we had to get the house clean before the Patch came, not that we had to do it now," the Hao corrected. He flashed a charming smile at her, not at all looking unlike his twin.

"You dirty old man. Don't you _dare_ flirt with me," the itako warned between clenched teeth.

"You never said that the other day. You know, when you came to 'talk' to me upstairs."

Anna was livid. Her eyes took on a murderous glint as she glared at Hao. Yoh froze in his seat, too scared of her to even warn his only sibling. Hao smiled back at her, not even fazed by her surmounting rage.

"If you want, I can tell them about what we discussed," he spoke, his eyes lighting up mischievously," I can't _wait_ to see their faces once they realize that their 'Okami' is not as great as she may seem."

He was smacked across the face faster than Yoh's eyes could register. The loud sound of skin hitting skin at high speed echoed throughout the room and everyone went silent. Hao didn't seem too surprised himself, but rather the smile plastered on his visage continued to exist. A large red welt was beginning to form on his cheek; as small side effect of causing Anna to loose her temper. He quite liked it when she was angry with him.

"Fine, Anna," he said, the grin slowly fading off of his elegant features," I won't tell them. You can be the one to inform them of your little secret."

The itako was dangerously close to throwing him out the side of the house. She breathed deeply, trying to keep herself ignorant of his remarks.

"Yoh. I'm going for a walk in the city," Anna declared angrily," Make sure my inn isn't destroyed when I'm gone and finish your chores."

"Sure," he sighed.

"Tamao, come," she demanded.

"Coming Lady Anna," the pink girl squeaked. She jumped up to follow the angry woman out of the house, Ponchi and Conchi just behind her.

"Hao," Yoh whined," did you really have to push her that far? I was having a good day, and I doubt that I'll get any peace later tonight."

"Yes, I did. She was getting on my nerves."

"But that doesn't mean that you had to instigate her into smacking you! You could have done what she said and left the room without a big conflict."

"That is what you would have done," Hao accused," I, however, will not be talked down to by your 'intimidating' fiancé. You should stick up for yourself once in a while; you may end up somewhat confident."

"So? That's me! You still don't have to push her so much. That's why you're always getting yourself into these types of situations."

"I don't care. I'm not in the mood to deal with your ridiculously annoying voice," he exhaled noisily," I feel a migraine coming on, and if you don't mind, I'm going to some place dark and quiet to wait it out." He got up and walked off in the direction of his room.

"Is that your answer to all of my questions? To just walk away from them?"

Hao lifted his hand over his shoulder and flipped him off.

"Well, at least the food was good," Horo-Horo offered to the tense room.

"You blind-sided pig," said the Chinese shaman.

ooOOooOOoo

_ What have I gotten myself in to?_

Silva asked himself that over and over again miserably, giving the seemingly stoic old inn a long stare. Truth be told, he was expecting the place to have burnt to the ground with giddy pyromaniac laughing his head off amidst the wreckage. _Still_, he thought, looking at the inn, _something could still be wrong_. To the average human passerby, the inn looked like any other inn. But, they had no idea that the place was inhabited by a group of goofy shaman and an anal, ancient, teen/man/child. Fearing for the worst, he walked under the stone archway and entered the house.

Inside, the shaman were running around in synchronized mayhem, if that made any sense. They were multi-tasking their chores, somehow not colliding with one another. Horo-Horo scrubbed the wood flooring of the hallways. Ren and Chocolove were cleaning the guest rooms, darting from one room to the next. As he passed by them, taking in the sight of this strange cooperative phenomenon. They didn't seem to notice Silva. He turned and watched as Ryu and Manta, a very mismatched pair, attempted to move the furniture around so that they could clean the dust off of them. Yoh and Hao were nowhere to be found.

A loud clanging sound from the room to his right proved otherwise. He walked over to what he presumed was the kitchen and stared at the housewife of a shaman. Yoh was on the cool floor sorting an eclectic display of cookware, completely absorbed in his own mess. The poncho-clad Patch grinned at his antics.

"Hey Yoh."

The Asakura shaman looked up, surprised at the sound directed at him. His face lit up as he realized who was talking to him and stood up to greet Silva.

"So they sent you," he said, smiling," I thought that Goldva would have sent one of the new officials."

"I offered to go. She agreed, mostly because I knew how to get here and wouldn't mind too much being around you guys. The others didn't objects, so it was all okay. They're too busy anyway."

"With what? I thought that the fight was over."

"Not necessarily. The Great Spirit hasn't given a true answer yet, but Goldva is suspecting otherwise."

"Really," Yoh inquired," What makes her say that?"

"Have you noticed any strange whether patterns?"

"Umm…Do you mean like a sudden drop in temperature in the middle of summer?"

"Yeah. That's one of them."

"What else is there?"

"An earthquake nearly decimated an entire village in China a few days ago. The whole area was torn up by some unseen force."

"And she thinks that the Elemental Spirits have something to do with these?"

"Yes. And what's more is that they aren't missing. The Spirit of Fire showed up not too long ago. It was kind of neat when they were reunited," the Patch admitted," They all lit up like lights of New Years."

"Cool, but that's a little suspicious, don't you think? When did it these phenomenon start happening?"

"Actually, the first was the cold front. So I guess it was the day you came back here."

"That's weird. She thinks it some kind of sign that the fight is really over?"

"Yeah, but that's Goldva for you. I think it's angry that the king hasn't been announced yet. By the way, where's Hao? I haven't seen him."

"He's…," Yoh started," well, he was sort of in a fight with Anna. It wasn't anything bad, really; he only ended up getting hit across the face. He's upstairs now, asleep I think."

"Anna did that," he asked incredulously," I knew she was easily ticked off, but what did he do to her? Did he attack her?"

"Not in the sense that you're thinking. He threatened to say something, and he was…well, you get the idea."

"Huh. Has anything else happened?"

"Not too much," Yoh sighed," he's been kind of quiet. I thought that it was because he hates the situation we're in, but I'm beginning to think otherwise. He's barely said a mouthful to me at a time, and most of the things he says are insults. Lyserg came to visit yesterday and didn't know that Hao was here. It was pretty ugly. They fought until Lyserg's nose was broken and Hao's shoulder dislocated. Again."

"Ouch," he winced," Any progress with making him friendlier?"

"Not really, but he did make breakfast this morning. That was a surprise."

"I wouldn't have thought of him as the kitchen type," he said, his eyebrows lifting in surprise," Hmm…Where is Lyserg now? I didn't see him either."

"Actually, I haven't seen him for about a couple of hours. He went to his room after he found out that Hao cooked and I haven't heard from him since."

"He won't attack him will he?"

"He said that he wouldn't, and no angry sounds have come from upstairs, so I assume that he won't."

"That's good to hear," Silva confessed," Why isn't Anna making Hao do any chores? I would have thought that she would do something like that."

"She _has_ ordered him to, but he's ignored her. That and he said he had a migraine."

"Not too surprising."

"Yeah, he just got up and left. I think he's still tired after what happened last night."

"What happened last night? You mean the fight he got into with Lyserg?"

"No," he said quickly, forgetting that Silva had no idea what he was talking about.

The lights in the kitchen went out suddenly, followed by an angry whisper.

"_Do you want to run that by me again_?"

Hao stood just inside the closed door, his hand wavering over the light switch. He glared with bloodshot eyes at the two men in front of him.

"Hi Hao, Silva's here."

"_Don't_ talk so loudly," he spoke in a low undertone, slamming his hands over his ears," I can barely listen to myself think with this headache. Your chattering was driving me up the Great Wall upstairs. Do you people have to think so _loud?" _

"Don't be such a grump," the younger teased.

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Do you need anything out of me," he asked Silva," How about a thank-you card?"

"No. Yoh's told me everything," he replied blankly.

"Fine," he switched his attention to Yoh," Is there any aspirin to be found in this dump?"

Yoh walked over to the cabinet above the stove and pulled out a small bottle. "Here," he said, handing it to his twin.

Hao took it and popped the cap off, downing the white pills dryly. He turned around when he finished, intent on leaving, and tripped and fell over one of the numerous pots littering the floor.

"Sorry, Hao," he apologized," I was trying to organize the cabinets."

The ex-shaman groaned from the tiled floor. He lifted himself up carefully, trying not to hit anything that would make a loud sound again. "You should have just killed me when you had the chance," he mumbled," It would have been kinder."

Yoh started at the dramatic change in subject. He watched in silence as Hao left through the shoji doors without another word.

"Does he really mean that," Silva asked quietly.

"I'm…," he began," I…don't think so. I think he's just in a bad mood."

"Yoh, I need to clarify something with you."

"Yes?"

"Even though you consider me as a friend, I'm still under orders from Goldva. If she orders me to kill him, I will without hesitation."

Yoh looked at his feet and sighed," I know. It's your duty as a Patch to do so."

"That's right. I'm sorry if it will come to that."

"Well, I still have to try," he said, his mind slowly returning to the events of last night," I beginning to think there's something really wrong with him. At least, more so than I originally thought."

"Whatever you say, Yoh. You know him better than I do."

A thought struck the teen that he had pushed off when he had spoken up at Hao's trial. To him, it seemed out of place amongst the other accusations his twin faced, but then again, he didn't truly know him. Not all too sure how to ask this, he began hesitantly, "Hmm…Hey Silva? Did Hao really rape someone?"

"Well," he admitted," my many times great grandmother, the one he was married to, accused him of it when she found out who he really was. It was too late to do anything of course. He was already dead when she gave birth."

The new information was certainly different from what he was expecting. It made sense, of course. From his experience, most people were afraid of once they discovered what he could do and would probably take the same course of action under those circumstances. But his wife? That seemed a little fishy.

A sudden realization hit him like a Tokyo metro bus. If Hao didn't tell her who he actually was, which it sounded like he definitely didn't, his mistrust of people must have started even further back in time. Yoh already knew this was true, but the factual evidence got him thinking; it finally gave him at least some direction to look in. The only problem was, he admitted with a disappointed lurch in his stomach, was that there were no living people left from the Heian era aside from the man himself, and that was definitely out of the question.

"Hey Yoh? Can I grab some food before I go? I haven't eaten yet today."

"What," he started," You just got here! From the United States! Across the Pacific! You're going to leave so soon after traveling nearly **** miles?"

"Sorry, but I have to get back. I teleported here, so it's not really an issue."

"You teleported," he said in awe," How in Great Spirit's name did you do that?"

The Patch gave him a look that have him the impression that he was talking to an absolute idiot," It's not all that impossible. We're shaman if I recall correctly, not some wannabe 'sci-fi' cult. Besides, it's not very hard. Hao used to do it all the time, remember?"

"Oh. I forgot about that."

"Hmm. That you did," Silva replied in an absent tone," Now, can I please eat something? I'm starving."

"Sure," Yoh said," there are still some leftovers in the oven if you want them."

"You mean the stuff Hao made?"

"Yeah, it's actually pretty good," he confessed, walking over to the stove and pulling out a still-warm plate, "Here, try some."

Silva eyed the food hesitantly.

"Oh, come on! Not you too!"

"Well…Alright. If you insist," he gave in reluctantly. He took the offered plate with his silver adorned hand and sat down at the small island. Tentatively, he ate the food in small bites. After realizing what it was, he began to scarf it down in a Horo-Horoish manner.

"What do you think," he encouraged," Good, right?"

The older shaman nodded and paused in his eating," It's very good. But, if my taste buds are correct, then this food is a little ironic."

"How is food ironic?"

"What he made isn't actually Japanese, or at the very least not this. This is ashoge. In our tribe, where it was originally made, it's used as a way to thank someone. It's name literally means 'thank you."

"Really? That's odd…"

"And what's even more ironic, and I find this very strange in regards to his behavior earlier," he continued," is that now I recall that it was actually Hao himself who came up with the recipe."

Yoh was stunned speechless.

"Exactly. Like you said, I guess he really didn't mean it when he said that he hated you. Maybe this his way of thanking you for what you did for him. Just a supposition, really."

Yoh's shock slowly began to melt into contented warmth. He smiled.

_ Maybe Hao isn't as empty as everyone makes him out to be._

ooOOooOOoo

"What the Hell do you think you're doing? Stand back up and fight me!"

Yoh lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of him from the force of the blow that his twin dealt him. He stared up at the sky, wondering how he got himself into situations like these. Hao stood a few yards off, Harusame in his right hand.

"How do you expect to survive in hell if you can't even block your own sword?"

"Fine," Yoh groaned. He slowly eased himself back up on his feet and got back in position to fight. Forcing himself to concentrate, he tried to focus his mana on the earth under his feet and hoped that something would happen. Without warning, Hao charged forward at a full run. The ancient samurai sword was armed to the edge with an oversoul provided by Ren, who stood watching over by the fence with an amused expression on his face. Anna stood next to him, her slightly annoyed presence only adding to the growing tension. Lyserg, Horo-Horo, and Chocolove sat on the ground on the opposite side of the yard, next to the wall of the house.

With growing trepidation, the other shaman of the inn had listen as Hao, his strange headache gone nearly an hour or two after Silva had left, told them of what Anna planned for him to do. They had rejected the idea at first, fearing for Yoh, but they eventually began to accept the idea as Anna stepped in and reinforced his argument. Reluctantly, the agreed to watch as Yoh trained without them.

The twins clashed in a loud _boom._

Like the time before that, the earth was as impassive as, well, dirt. Nothing happened when the two collided, except for the younger of the two being pounded back to the hard ground.

"Why can't you follow simple directions," the elder sighed, staring down at Yoh," I told you to focus on the individual granules, not the dirt as a whole. You _cannot_ even hope to control the tiniest particle without first understanding it. Get back up and do it again."

Yoh stood up once again and tried to do what Hao had told him to do. He really did try to focus on each tiny little grain of sand, but there were just so _many _that it seemed impossible.

"Nothing is impossible. Focus now or you will end up on the ground again and we can do this all over again."

Hao once again charged and swung the sword out toward Yoh. The younger's very seldom anger button began to throb at his brother's reluctance to stop for a moment. He felt the ground underneath his feet vibrate slightly as Hao's feet pounded into the ground in his dash. _If only he could see how hard this is for me, _he thought as his body collided with the earth for the tenth time today.

"What do you mean _'if only he could see how hard this is for me_? I went through all of this without a single word of advice. Consider yourself blessed," he ground out between clenched teeth," You make me sick to my stomach to think that _you _are half of my soul. Now get back up and do it again. But this time, do it right."

Yoh did as he was told. His back was starting to throb with the abuse and his patience was beginning to wear thin, very uncharacteristic for latter. He glanced at Hao before he turned his attention back to the earth. He was glaring at him with menacing dark eyes, his mouth turned down in a grimace. Yoh quickly averted his gaze; the enraged eye contact made him uneasy.

The ground looked like it always did. Different brown shaded grains of dirt, mixed here and there with green patches of grass. I certainly didn't look special. He didn't know how Hao was able to stare at it for hours at a time. Unlike the spirits and ghosts he was used to dealing with, the earth, the physical aspect of it at least, was not nor ever had been living. He couldn't think of it as being alive. It was a totally foreign subject to him, to be able to control something that did experience life coursing through its veins. Anna was right about that; it was something that he wouldn't have been able to grasp without Hao's help.

"Think of the earth as something living," Hao offered after hearing his latest mental conversation," It's alive whether or not you think it is."

He switched his perspective. Trying to think of the dirt as living was baffling to the young shaman. It was dirt after all. But, now that he really thought about it, it did support the other things that lived on this planet. The earth provided sustenance, along with water, to the living and grew the wood that sheltered them. It transferred its life force, not something necessarily spiritual, to others. Rather than being 'alive' per se, it had a sort of life force for which other beings lived off of. Maybe that was what Hao was talking about. He didn't know it would work of he thought of it that way, but it was worth a shot.

Like before, he concentrated his mana on the individual grains of sand. But this time, he envisioned them as something living rather than a dead force of nature. He felt nothing. Hao hurled himself forward, the grimace on his face twisting into an enraged snarl.

"You should have listened to me," he shouted," I'll make this one hurt." He jumped up as he yelled this and brought Harusame down forcefully. Yoh's stomach lurched as he braced himself for the worst and hoped beyond futility that the earth would protect him.

The ground before him erupted in a cataclysmic explosion.

He watched in astounded amazement as Hao was caught in the flying mound of soil. The massive chunk burst upward and slammed back into the ground as Yoh lost his focus. His heart soared at the accomplishment.

"Yoh. Help him out of there," Anna called from the other side of the yard," he's under that pile of dirt you moved."

He laughed and tried again. Unlike last time, the earth moved at his whim. It parted in a small hole, giving the stunned ex-shaman beneath it breathing room and an exit route. The samurai sword shot up through the hole and landed a few yards away, covered in soil.

Hao climbed out carefully after it, not trusting the dirt under his feet to obey the laws of physics. He collapsed on the solid, grass-covered lawn upon breaching the light of day.

"Not bad for a total newbie," Yoh congratulated himself, reaching his hand down to help his twin to his feet.

"You stupid child," he gasped up at Yoh," You have absolutely no idea what you're dealing with."

"Well, I don't think you could say exactly that," he sighed," I did what you told me to do. I understood how to use the earth."

"I didn't mean that," Hao growled, getting up on his own accord to glare him in unmasked fury," I meant that you have no fucking clue as to what you could have just done."

Yoh looked at him in confusion.

His eyes burned like glowing black coals. Hao began in a low voice that slowly escalated in pitch, addressing all of the assembled shamans, "You know _nothing_ of the implications of the power you now know how to wield. The very balance of nature could be upset by a miniscule action. Entire ecosystems can be destroyed with a flick of a thought; I've seen it happen and it's sad.

"So, I suggest that if you want to continue to investigate this particular field of shamanism that you listen to everything I say to you and obey it, no matter how foolish it sounds to you. I didn't get the title of the greatest onmyôji that ever lived by simply walking outside one day and decided, 'hey, that sounds like fun!' It's that very thing that separates the stupid ones like you who destroy everything from the ones who save the world from its own inhabitants.

"There is _nothing _more dangerous than the forces of nature. As a shaman, you should already know that. There is a reason why only a select few are able to grasp the concept of controlling an element, or even all five. What you just accomplished was only the half of the big picture. It doesn't take a lot of mana to control either, and if you had _accidentally_ decided to put a large portion of your reserve in to that display, I would not be standing in front of you and giving you a lecture on the importance of mana preservation. You could have just blown up your house and killed all of us. I doubt that the stupid smile on your face would last for very long when you realize that the ones you love are murdered in front of your very eyes. Do I make myself clear to you all?"

The young shaman before him was surprised at the Hao's little speech, but he knew that he was right. He couldn't help but get a vibe of pained nostalgia emanating from him as he finished speaking. It was hard to watch as his eyes burned with different emotions throughout it, especially when he ended with the implications of not being careful. Yoh watched him as he locked gazes with everyone, waiting for their approval that they understood what he had said. He ended with Yoh, glaring up at him defiantly.

"And what about you?"

Although neither of them really didn't have a choice in the matter, Yoh thought about what Hao was offering to do. Everything that the ex-onmyôji had worked for was now gone in the blow of a sword. It seemed cruel that Yoh had done it to him, even if he was unintentional. He was going to teach Yoh, his other half, his twin, his brother, worst enemy the very things that had caused him to gain so much power. It was a baffling concept, but one that he knew he could handle, no matter what Hao threw at him.

"I understand. And, I'm sorry for doing that to you," he apologized, motioning with his hands to the hole in the ground.

"As you should be," Hao snorted arrogantly. A slow, but steady maniacal grin was hinting at blossoming across his face," I suppose I'll kill you know. After you train long enough that you are able to use the Spirit of Earth, you can come back."

"Wait! Wait," Yoh stammered as Hao walked over and picked up Harusame off the ground and wiped it off on his jeans," How will I know that I can use it? And how long will that be?"

"I don't know how long it will take you," he replied, the insane-looking smile tugging at the corners of his mouth," And when you get there, search around. Fight the demons. Take a walk. You can figure it out yourself."

"Hao," the Ainu spoke up from his seat by the house, the excitement in his voice growing apparent," can you teach me how to use them as well? I want to learn."

"I doubt that an idiot such as you can even grasp at the concept," he said back, testing out the sharpness of the samurai sword on a nearby log. It sliced in half easily.

"I want to as well," the Chinese shaman said," and don't even think of calling me an idiot. I'm smarter than all of these low-lives combined."

"And that's why you aren't very bright. All of their intelligence combined couldn't screw in a light bulb."

"Me too," Chocolove amended," It might help me with my jokes."

"You disgust me with your pathetic dreams," Hao hissed at the comedian. He looked at Lyserg, who had not let his eyes wander away from Hao, and asked," So what about you, Holmes? Want to learn how I killed your parents?"

The British teen glared back with unrestrained hate, but otherwise showed no inclination that he had even registered that last remark," If it will allow me to become stronger than you in your 'prime', then yes, count me in."

"And Anna, my dear, what do you make of all of this," he smiled, turning to face the itako," will you be so generous as to let me kill them _all_?"

She narrowed her eyes dangerously," Watch your mouth you filthy old man or you'll end up at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. As for killing them, you may _if_ you teach them all. Correctly as you said you would for Yoh."

The ex-onmyôji couldn't have been grinning any wider," You are most generous today, Anna. Very well," he said, addressing the others," I will teach you, and then kill you. But, to control a specific elemental spirit, you have to have the corresponding power. That goes for you as well, Yoh. I can't change that. Onmyôji are excluded from this rule, but none of you are capable of achieving that title in this lifetime."

"I will take care of you first," he said, walking over to his silent twin," I will teach them while you are in hell. Faust can revive you."

"Wait, Hao," he pleaded, trying to buy himself some more time," How is he going to do that?"

"It's in my book. Now, hold still," he commanded, his voice dangerously close to resembling insane laughter," You wouldn't want me to ruin your body so bad that you can't be revived."

"Anna! Don't let him kill me! I've changed my mind!"

"No he hasn't," Hao cackled, aiming the sword at his twin," And besides, you don't want to rain on my parade, do you?"

"Let him do it," Anna ordered," I still expect you to make dinner. Don't make me wait."

"Yes, Anna," he stammered, backing up against the bamboo wall behind him. "Hao, isn't there something else we can try? I don't really need to go through hell, do I?

"Yes, you do. Now, stop moving!"

"Hao, I'm sorry if I offended you! Please, we can work this out peacefully!"

"No way, this is too much fun," he laughed, and plunged the Harusame in to Yoh's heart. Yoh dropped to the ground, letting out a noise that sounded like a combination between a sigh and a surprised yelp. Hao stood over him, his giddy, glowing smile illuminated by the afternoon sun.

Yoh looked back up at him, his vision fading. He heard Hao speak in a voice that only he cold hear, "Bye-bye, little brother."

His vision went black.

ooOOooOOoo

Dying certainly was much different than Yoh had anticipated it would be. There was no bright white light, no glowing Great Spirit, and no sense of eternal peace. He had reason to suspect that this was only because of Anna's doing that he wasn't in the Great Spirit and thusly did not experience the aforementioned events. No sooner than he had closed his eyes and uttered his last breath than the world around him appeared.

He was in a large gully, the rocky cliffs above him surrounding him. The sky above was pitch-black. There was no light source, only a very slight red light that bathed everything with the same amount of it. No shadows existed here. No other beings popped out around the corners. No sound. He was in Hell.

The most disorienting aspect of it all was the sense of a massive reserve of energy flowing through his body. His heart, a constant thing in the living world, did not beat. No blood pulsing through his veins. It was very unsettling. His feet, much like the ghosts and spirits he surrounded himself with, were slightly transparent. He stood up from his sitting position against the side of the canyon and looked around. Absolutely nothing.

He walked around, searching for anything that could point him in the right direction. Nothing appeared until a lengthy amount of time passed. Then again, it felt the even time didn't flow here. At the end of the long gully, a tall staircase led up to who knew where. With no other clue, he followed the path over to the stone, if it was stone, stairs, and began his ascent.

At the top of the stairway, a small shrine awaited him. A lone pentagram adorned the sloping roof. The pathway leading up to it was lined with paper lamps, also adorned with pentagrams. The shrine itself wasn't much. Just a pedestal, a roof over it, and a tiny cushion that he doubted belonged to any person. Or ghost, really. He was about to leave the shrine and walk in the other direction of the canyon when he heard a voice speak up from behind him. It didn't sound like any human voice that Yoh had ever heard before.

"Excuse me? You must be Yoh."

He turned around, but no one was there. Confused, he turned his head and looked behind him again. No one was there, just as the shrine had always been.

"Down here, Master Yoh."

Yoh turned his body back to the way he had come in and looked down. A strangely familiar figure stood there, not even reaching the height of his knees. It was two-tailed, orange cat with black stripes, and he, judging by his voice, wore something resembling a yukata.

"Hello, Master Yoh," he said, smiling a very cat-like smile," I don't believe we have met before, but I already know you. You don't know me, I'm afraid, but my name is Matamune."

"Uh…hello, Matamune," he greeted back awkwardly. Truth be told, he had never conversed with a cat before. Very strange, this Hell.

"I see you like my necklace," he meowed," Master Hao gave that to me nearly a thousand years ago."

"Wait, did you say that _Hao _gave this to you," he asked incredulously," You mean Asakura Hao? My twin? You knew him?"

"I knew him very well. At least, I knew him better than anyone else has, aside from you," he sighed miserably.

"Really? Then you can tell me what happened to him?"

"I'm afraid it's not really that simple. It's quite a long story, if you ask me."

"That's alright, Matamune," he smiled," I have all the time in the world."

Matamune looked up at Yoh with a pained look," Master Hao used to smile just like that."

"Please, Matamune," he pleaded, sitting before the cat spirit," I'm trying to help him."

"I know that, Master Yoh. I've been watching the two of you for a long time now."

"You can stop with the 'master' thing. Just plain old Yoh is fine with me."

"What happened to him was simply not _one _thing, Master Yoh," he meowed, ignoring Yoh's input," Rather, it was more of a bunch of events that happened within the same proximity of each other that caused him to be the way he is today."

"Okay," he assured, urging the cat to continue, gently.

"Oh, Master Yoh," Matamune sighed, tears beginning to pour down his furry orange face," He literally went insane, and it was all my fault."

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Hmmm….brainfoodz. Yayz. Om nom nom.

Sorry I abuse Hao. He just doesn't listen, that grumpy old man. Tsk tsk. The next chapter is the one to look forward to. It's my favorite. :D

The only thing I really have to complain about is Matamune's complete and utter rejection from the anime. He's such a great character and it makes Hao' back story much more complex. That pretty much killed the anime for me, other than Hao's _horrible English name change. _No offense to those named Zeke…hehe. *epic fail*

Thanks for reading this, and please review! :D


	8. Unwell

Chapter Eight

Unwell

A/N:

Hello once again you crazy people! If you've been reading my silly fanfiction for this long, and have actually enjoyed it, props go to you. Devoted fans make meh happay. This is a rather short chapter, at least in regards to the other ones I've written. :D

The title of this chapter is called 'Unwell,' which is also the name of a song by a band called Matchbox Twenty. It is my absolute favorite song and I think that it fits here perfectly as the theme as well as the title. Banjos ftw. *tries to deny that it wasn't planned*

I do not own the fabulous _Shaman King_, by Hiroyuki Takei, or any songs by

Nickelback or Matchbox Twenty.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

"Oh, Master Yoh," Matamune sighed, tears beginning to pour down his furry orange face," He literally went insane, and it was all my fault."

Yoh was appalled at the statement. Not at learning that his only sibling was mentally deranged, which he pretty much already knew, but at Matamune's confession.

"Matamune, I don't think that any one person is responsible for making another person go insane," he consoled," Why would you say it's your fault?"

"He was my only family," he continued," It was my leaving that I think drove him over the edge."

"Why don't you tell me the whole story," Yoh asked," Just so that we're on the same page."

"Well," Matamune began, smiling at some ancient memory," he was not always like the Master Hao you know now. He was very kind, compassionate, slow to anger, and empathic, much like you are.

"I met him over a millennia ago while he was traveling back to the Asakura compound after helping a family with a possessed daughter. My mother and eight siblings, you see, had all died from a contagious disease. I too, was afflicted with it and I was dying. He stopped the carriage he was in and began to speak to me.

"I was confused at why the human talked to me. It was strange, as humans didn't talk like that to cats and I, being wary of him, walked in the opposite direction. That was, until he started pulling information about me out of my very head," Matamune chuckled," He offered me a home and to make me in to a Goryoushin after I died. I nearly passed the opportunity up, but then I turned around and looked at the man who addressed me as if I were and equal to him. Somehow, when I really _looked_ at him I understood that the long-haired onmyôuji was lonely. He didn't have anyone in the world that cared for him. Eventually, I complied with his wishes and he took me in, sickly mangy fur and all.

"We became the greatest companions two people could ever have been. Even after I died, he kept me around, and gave me my own reserve of mana to make that happen. As long as it wasn't used up, that store of spiritual energy in the bear claw necklace," the cat motioned with his tails to the necklace Yoh now wore," We were content for a time, and he came to tell me everything about him. Imagine my surprise when he told that his real name actually isn't Hao. It is Asaha, a derivative of his mother's name, Asano Ha. He changed it later in life to Asakura Hao, with the 'asa' going in to Asakura and the 'ha' in Hao. Clever, I told it him it was. He only laughed.

"His mother was murdered in front of his eyes when he was barely four. The monk in the little village that he lived in had her burned alive because he thought that she was a _yokai_, a fox-demon. She wasn't; she could talk to demons and spirits, and that was the extent of her powers. His distrust of normal humans built up over a period of time and he began to blame them all for his mother's death. He never truly trusted them again.

"Shortly after Asano Ha died, he came in contact with a little demon by the name of Ohachiyo. The demon convinced Master Hao to be trust him, and he gained his true friend. Ohachiyo told him about a demonic power that he wielded, called _reishi,_" the cat said quietly, hissing at the name," and taught him how to wield it. It gave him the ability to see the hearts and thoughts of others telepathically. The power could be turned off and on, you see, as long as the demon remained by his side.

"The greedy monk that had murdered his mother soon caught wind that Hao was alive and decided that he needed to be taken care of as well, on grounds that he was also a demon. They met at some point, and Hao made his first oversoul by using Ohachiyo as a spirit. It worked to a perfect 't' and he killed the monk without much effort, thanks to the _reishi _that enabled him to predict their every move. Unfortunately, he didn't release the demon when he should have stopped and used up all of it's power. It disappeared, and left behind the _reishi. _Unlike before, it could not be turned off by mere whim alone.

"The power he now had made him even more distrustful than he already was toward others. He could feel their every emotion that they had, as if it were his own: their joy, love, happiness, grief, sorrow, misery, sadness, anger, fear, and pain. Those feelings alone nearly drove him mad then. But for some odd reason, he felt the desire to actually help the humans around him. He thought that by helping them, he could help himself in a way; and so he became an onmyôuji for that reason. The problem was, was that we lived in the Heian era. It was not a good time nearly everyone. Disease, famine, death, homelessness, and constant fear were as common as the dirt we slept on. He could not escape it no matter how hard he tried.

"He grew lonely. The town in which he lived silently shunned him. The humans, as you know, don't trust things with which they don't understand. Hao became a scapegoat for them; they blamed all their troubles on him. He knew that, but he continued to work as if nothing were wrong.

"I met him in his early twenties. It took both of us a good deal of time to finally open up to each other, but it happened nonetheless. We shared our thoughts, our home, our lives, and our very existence. I was there when he founded the Asakura family, did you know that? They were not really family, just other powerful shaman that flocked to him. He was their leader, their Asakura Hao: a man with a brilliantly gifted mind that knew how the world worked, inside and out.

"Not too long after I came to know him, the issue of his telepathic empathy became apparent. He was scared, deathly terrified at what the demonic power he wielded would do to him. And he had good reason to be afraid; it was not pleasant for either of us. Over the years, the _reishi _that plagued him grew out of control, not that it was controllable in the first place. Master Hao began to have…'episodes'…in which his _reishi _drove him to near insanity. He would loose control of his mind for brief periods and during that time; he was forced to distance himself away from others for fear that he would accidentally kill someone. It was almost as painful to watch as it was to experience, and I could barely stand it," Matamune grimaced," First, the _reishi _would suddenly flare up without warning, giving him extra sensibility to the emotions of others. At first, it would only happen when someone died around him, but it eventually was triggered by nothing at all. He wouldn't be able to hear his own thoughts, much less the people speaking aloud around him. Their minds would invade his head, forcing him to live through their emotions at a heightened level. By then, he would have run back to his own room and resolve himself to tears beneath the blankets. The only thing he could do was wait for it to stop. They all did after a time, but he was usually unconscious when it stopped, exhausted as he was. The episodes became more and more frequent and by the end of it all, they happened at least three times a week.

"During this time, I noticed that Master Hao was permanently distancing himself from all around him, including me. It began when he said all but nothing at dinner, which he stopped going to in his final year. He would barely talk to me anymore," Matamune reminisced, the tears he had suppressed earlier coming back," And I left him. I left him when he needed me the most. I could not bare the sight of him slowly going mad, and so I left never to return shortly after he turned thirty.

"What happened after that was when the Master Hao you know began to emerge. By word of another spirit, I found out that he finally went insane. He began a movement that was intent on wiping all humans and weak shaman off the face of the earth by becoming the Shaman King. He asked the rest of the Asakura clan to join, but they knew better. Master Hao completely snapped one evening, and I'm sure you have heard of this night. It took all of the Asakuras to stop him from destroying the remnants of what was left of the compound. They killed him that night, but it was too late. He had already mastered Taizan Fukun, or transmigration.

"Five hundred years later, at the time of the next Shaman Fight, he reincarnated himself as Patch. They had no clue as to who the seemingly normal kid was. He looked and acted just like any other babe. Of course, he was a little smarter than all the others and had no trouble with 'developing' his shaman abilities. He was regarded a protégé, and they trusted him as they would for any other child.

"He rose in their ranks, and became a Patch Official when the time came. He learned their deepest secret: how to control one of the Great Spirits. Master Hao eyed them greedily as the others did, but unlike them, he formulated a plan to steal the strongest of the five: the Spirit of Fire. It was all hush-hush. No one knew about it except for him.

"As he became an adult, he took one of the Patch women as a wife. They married, and she regarded him as a great person; she, like the rest of her kinsmen, had no idea that he was Asakura Hao. They had a child, a little girl that your Patch friend Silva is a descendant of. She wasn't born until after Hao took the Spirit of Fire.

"Like I mentioned before, he planned to steal the SOF. When the tournament began, I showed up with one of his Asakura descendants, Yohken. Yohken and I knew that Master Hao was one of the Ten Priests the moment we laid our eyes on him. He was surprised that I came, but he didn't care if we knew. The day he took the SOF as his own, Yohken and I cornered him with the 1080 beads. He killed Master Hao with the King's Sword, but as I feared, we were already too late.

"I used up my mana in that last fight. Yohken took the necklace I wore back to the Asakura compound in Izumo. I moved on to where I am today, watching the two of you from Hell. Once again, Master Hao transmigrated himself five hundred years later in to the body of Lady Keiko, your mother. Much to both of our surprise, she ended up having twins. His souls split in the process, something he was not all too happy about. You were the result of this split and even more surprising, you do not seem to have any of his memories. That could be a good thing I suppose, depending upon which way you look at it. Nor do you have _reishi, _which I am eternally grateful for. The current Master Hao got the shorter end of the stick, unfortunately, and still had to live with everything he had been through.

"You stopped him, possibly for good, at total human annihilation. That is something that no one, not even the combined efforts of all of the Asakuras and myself has accomplished. What is more, is that you got him stop and to listen_, _actually _listen, _to your opinion on all of his doings. If it were any other person, I am not too sure if he would have done the same thing."

Yoh was beyond shocked awe. The realization of his twin's shady past was something that he couldn't even begin to contemplate. He had reason to believe that Hao had a horrible life, but this? This was utterly…he didn't even have a word for it. It was no small wonder why Hao went insane. He couldn't have done anything about it.

"Matamune," he began, breaking his stunned vigil," If what you said is true, and I have no reason not to believe you, then there was nothing you could have done to help him."

"Mas--sorry, Yoh, I left him _alone_. You can not leave someone like that and not expect them to go mad."

"But there was absolutely nothing," he reinforced, leaning down to look at cat spirit at him at eye level," _nothing, _at the timethat could have saved Hao from himself."  
"Do you not get it, Yoh? _I left him alone_. That surely could have sped up the process of insanity."

"We don't know that, Matamune. Like you said, anything could have triggered it at the right moment."

The Goryoushin hissed," I know that, but it's too coincidental for it not to have happened."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to him," Yoh urged," You couldn't have done anything."

Matamune stared at the young shaman before him with ancient, sad eyes. He had a point, but it was something that he had already considered. But still, hearing it only pressed upon the possibility that it might _not _have been his fault. The kid instilled hope in others, and it was contagious.

"Maybe you really can help Master Hao," he sighed.

"I think so too."

Matamune purred for the first time inside a millennium.

"Now, you must be here for a reason. If I am not mistaken, Master Hao sent you to Hell for further training? This way, if you please," the orange cat spirit advised. He stood up and turned around. Descending the stairs, he nimbly led the way. Yoh followed just behind him, not really sure exactly where he was being led to. Malamute walked off in the direction of the other end of the valley; the end Yoh had not chosen to follow.

"What do you make of this Hell?"

"Different, I guess. I've never been to any place like this."

"That is to be expected. Of course, this is not the only Hell."

"What do you mean? I thought that there was only one Hell."

The cat chuckled softly to himself," No. Every person has his or her own Hell when they die. They are all connected at some place, but that place can vary and change. Nothing is ever really set here, nothing is certain."

"Then how do you get out of here?"

"You have to be at peace with oneself," he said, his head drooping," I am not, and therefore, that is why I am still here. When that happens, you may move on to the Great Spirit."

"If everyone has their own Hell when they die," Yoh questioned," why did I end up in yours?"

"Honestly, I am not sure. Maybe Master Hao sent you here by accident. Maybe it is the Great Spirits' doing. I do not know and you probably will not find out either."

Yoh sighed. It would have been interesting to know. "What am I supposed to be doing here? Training, I know, but how? There isn't anyone to fight."

"On the contrary, there is," Malamute smiled," You know of him, but you have never met him."

"Who would that be?"

"His name is Yohken. He is your ancestor and was a good friend of mine. Unfortunately, he is here because he has not come to terms with killing Master Hao five hundred years ago. He looks like you too."

"So I have convince him to be at peace with himself? That is how I will be able to control a Great Spirit? Sounds like two totally different concepts to me."

"They may sound different, but that is part of the puzzle you will have to solve," he said, stopping," Here we are."

The valley opened up into a large ravine. It stretched for what seemed to be eternity, and as far as Yoh could tell, maybe it did. It was deep as well, the dark red walls plunging into a bottomless pit. Across the ravine was an old wooden bridge. The wooden planks crossed the gully to the other side, where a temple, many times larger than Matamune's, sat waiting.

"I will leave you with him," the cat announced, looking up at Yoh," Your expertise in helping people will only get you so far. He is very skilled with wielding an oversoul, so you may have to improvise."

"How do I make an oversoul without a spirit ally," he asked, thoroughly confused.

"That, Master Yoh, is half the battle. I must go now, but we will meet again eventually. Give Master Hao my regards."

"You're going to leave now? But I don---."

The cat disappeared.

"Now what? I'm stuck in someone else's Hell with nothing but my arms as weapons," he sighed, looking at his semi-transparent limbs," I doubt they would hold up against a paper fan.

With nothing else to do, really, he stepped onto the ancient bridge. It didn't sway as he put pressure on it, so he guessed it was safe. Not that it would matter if it did collapse. He was already dead.

"Is anyone here," Yoh called out across the gorge. His questioning voice echoed around him like Dolby Surround sound. "Great. I'm talking to a bridge," he groaned.

The young shaman walked across the old pathway and stepped onto solid ground. A blurred object came flying past his nose, barely missing it.

"Gah," he exclaimed. Yoh dove down onto the ground and rolled to his left away from the steep cliff face. "What in Great Spirit's name was that?" His vision became sharper as a near-adrenaline-like fire course through his body. The object, lodged in the ground a few yards away was a long staff. At the end was a golden circle adorned with spikes. His attacker came running by and picked it up to aim again at his head.

"Wait! There must be some misunderstanding," he reasoned with the figure before him. As the staff came rushing toward him, he rolled away again and jumped to his feet.

The man, like Malamute had said, did indeed appear to resemble Yoh. They had the same elegant facial features, long dark hair, and chocolate brown eyes. Yohken, at least to Yoh, looked more like the original Hao than himself. His eyebrows were furrowed in a deep frown and a scowl spread across his face as he prepared his next attack.

Yohken charged him, the staff held in front of him like a lance. He swerved just in time as the long weapon shot out from his hands and lodged into the thick shrine wall behind the spot where Yoh previously stood with a loud _clang!_

"What did I ever do to you," he gasped, turning around to face Yohken.

"Trespassers are not welcome here," he ground out as he yanked the staff back. "Leave! Now!"

"No, I came to---gah," he dodged again," Watch it with that thing! You could poke an eye out!"

"I said leave," he warned again.

"I can't! I'm here because Hao told me to train in Hell!"

"Don't even speak that name," he yelled, charging once again as Yoh attempted to duck. He wasn't fast enough as Yohken's oversoul gained newfound speed. With a sickening _squelch_, the staff embedded itself in Yoh chest.

The younger shaman's torso blossomed a red flower of blood as he fell to the ground. He lay there, expecting a black haze to claim his consciousness. It never came.

_Wait a second…I'm already dead. I can't die again, _he thought as he laid there on the ground, Yohken standing over him, _but if I'm dead, why am I bleeding? I don't want that!_

Just as he thought that he didn't want to be bleeding, he stopped leaking the precious or now not-so-precious life fluid. _That was cool_, he thought to himself. The wound vanished completely as the Yohken pulled out the staff. Confused, he stood up. Yohken's scowl deepened as he took in the sight. He growled and lunged forward again.

_Damn it, _he shouted in his mind again as the weapon pierced his arm. Like he had before, he wanted the bleeding and pain to stop. It did. _Now, I need a weapon of my own._ He ran out of Yohken's strike range when he came at him again. Yoh wanted, no, he needed an oversoul to get him to listen.

A glowing silvery oversoul materialized around his arm. Startled, he stopped in his tracks to admire it. Harusame, although he had no idea how, sprouted beneath his fingertips. Judging by its sheer size and shape, it the King's Sword was infused with it. On the opposite end of the oversoul was Amidamaru's shoulder armor. Like it did for its wearer, the amour curled up and over his right shoulder. It certainly looked like nothing Yoh had ever seen, but its general shape looked somewhat like a massive white swan.

Yohken's enraged cry startled him from behind. He whipped around and swung at the golden staff. A high-pitched _clang_ rang out around the valley. Yohken lifted his oversoul and brought it back down and again, Yoh launched another counter-attack. This time, the staff shattered into a million golden shards.

"Listen to me," Yoh pleaded as Yohken's staff reappeared as if it were never broken in the first place," Can't we talk like normal people instead of attacking each other?"

"Go away," he yelled back, charging Yoh once again.

"Please," he asked, adroitly pushing the golden spear aside," listen to me Yohken!"

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm a descendant of yours," he said slowly.

"How is that possible," he screeched, thrusting the staff again," I'm only thirty!"

"What are you talking about? You've been dead for five hundred years, Yohken."

"You vile scum! Stop playing with my mind," Yohken yelled back.

"You don't realize that you've been dead?'

"I'm not dead! I've been training in this gorge for a few months so that I can atone for my sins."

Yoh whacked his attacker's weapon out of his hands. "You've been in Hell for five hundred years because you're upset that you killed another human."

"Maybe, but that monster had to die," Yohken hissed, walking over to pick up the staff again.

Yoh barred him from reaching the weapon. "That doesn't hide the fact that you killed someone."

"So?"

"According to Malamute, that's why you can't pass on to the Great Spirit. You've been denying that fact because you can't come to terms with it."

"You know the cat?"

"I do, but that's not the point."  
"Who are you and why are you here?"

"I am your descendant, Asakura Yoh. Like you, I had to defeat Hao in the Shaman Tournament. I'm here for intensive training."

"So you were born to kill him as well," he sighed," That makes two of us, then."

"Actually, I didn't kill him."

Yohken's expression turned from pained to surprise. "Why in Great Spirit's name did you not kill that monster? You should be in the world of the living and stopping him."

"I stopped him in his attempt at taking the Great Spirit as his own. His powers are gone now, and he can't transmigrate anymore."

"But why did you do that? He should be stopped once and for all."

"Unlike you, I couldn't kill him. I would have ended up like you if I had. But, I didn't do so because when he was born sixteen years ago, his soul split into two parts. I'm his younger twin."

Yohken's face betrayed complete shock.

"I thought that I could help him if I tried hard enough, and it's worked out pretty well so far. He lives with me at my inn now, and he hasn't done anything bad since the fight a few months ago."

"You…you're willing to do that for the sake of…saving his soul?"

"Yeah, pretty much. He's not that bad of a person, actually. Hao has his good moments."

"Hmm…."

"So, are we done fighting now?"

"I guess," he shrugged," nice oversoul. Is that new?"

Yoh glanced down at the glowing oversoul strapped to his arm," Yeah. I just…sort of wanted an oversoul and it appeared there. Hao pretty much told me nothing of what I was supposed to do, so I guess this qualifies as learning something."

"Hao is teaching you? About what?"

"Elemental Spirits and How to Control Them 101."

"101?"

"…Never mind. It's just an expression. How do I get out of here?"

"You have to defeat every spirit in the trials of Hell. Didn't Malamute tell you of this?"

"No. He just told me to help you. That was it."

"That's Malamute for you. He likes you to use your mind instead of merely giving you the answers. Anyway, you have to go through the doors of the temple behind me and defeat every enemy until there are none left."

"Sounds fun. How many are there?"

Yohken gave him a blank look. "I don't know. I haven't exactly finished the trials myself."

"Alright," he smiled, rubbing a hand over the back of his head," Thanks for helping me, Yohken."

"No, thank you. Good luck with Hao."

"Hehehe. Thanks," Yoh said. He quickly jumped up the stone steps leading up to the temple doors and pushed them open," See you later."

ooOOooOOoo

The bright afternoon sunlight woke the teen from his near sleep of death. Expecting his arms to be sore from fighting over a hundred different types of demons, spirits, and ghosts in Hell, he was reluctant to move. Instead, he opened his eyes. The people around him appeared to be obscured by some ghostly veil.

Faust stood above him, the Chou Senji Ryakketsu in one hand, a needle oversoul in the other. Upon noticing his eyelids flutter open, Anna left her perch on the rock beside him for the inn.

"Great," he sighed," It worked perfectly."

"Of course it did," Hao muttered, annoyed," I came up with the method."

Yoh sat up from the ground, the new sense tangible energy and a heartbeat giving him the strength to do so. Ignoring Faust's excited questions, he locked gazes with his twin and spoke softly to him.

"Hao," was the only word that Yoh could muster.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Sorry, I cut that last scene short. What happens after Yoh meets Hao again I really can't break up because I think it would ruin the moment. Then again, if I did add the entire scene and what comes after it to this chapter, it would drag on and on and on. I'd rather have it kept concise and interesting. Suspense for the win!

It's sad because I remembered the math, very surprising for me, I did a long time ago and I found out that Hao was only 30 when he died for the first time in 1005.

Special thanks to The Chibi Fluffy for beta reading the chapter for me! I appreciate the OOCness and grammar help. :D


	9. Far Away

Chapter Nine

Far Away

A/N:

This entire chapter was originally the second half of chapter eight, but my beta reader, The Chibi Fluffy, convinced me to make it it's own chapter. I think she's right. :D

This way, I think it adds more suspense to the story-line. Yay literary devices!

Well, I've been planning this chapter since the very beginning of my Shaman King education. It's been playing in my head for who knows how long, and I've just now have finally put it on paper. Or internets. Or both. I found that it was hard to make our favorite pyro in character for this chappie, but I think I actually did it. I'm rather proud of it, and I would love to hear feedback (good and bad).

Sounds kind of corny, but I dedicate this chapter to Asakura Hao. 

On a side note, I've changed mana to furiyoku in here. My beta's advice because since I'm using all of the other Japanese words, why not this? She's right.

This is the chapter that I'm most hesitant about. I'm concerned about Hao's behavior in this towards the end, so if you don't mind commenting about it, that would make me feel better. :D

I do not own _Shaman King _or any songs by Nickelback.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

"Hao," was the only word that Yoh could muster.

"What are yo---," he began, and stopped instantly. The flood of Yoh's new knowledge pierced his thoughts like a hot knife through butter. He was rendered mute as each of the facts that he had learned, that he had been told by _Matamune _of all people, hit him hard. His stomach lurched as he realized Yoh, his insignificant, naïve, stupid, idiotic, _twin, _knew _everything_. For perhaps the second time in his life, he didn't have a clue as to what he should do.

Yoh watched as Hao's tanned complexion pale beyond was he thought was humanly possible. His eyes shifted through a myriad of emotions as he experienced his own memories, seen from a different perspective. He too, had no clue as to what he was going to do.

"Hey," Faust complained, interrupting the strange silent horror scene," What's going on?"

The break in the silence gave Hao the incentive he needed. Without warning, he turned around and dashed back inside the inn, avoiding the other randomly placed shaman bodies.

"Yoh, what just happened?"

Yoh looked at the confused doctor, remembering that he had no idea what they were speechless about.

"Oh, Faust," he sighed," What happened in Hell was a little more than unexpected. There's so much going on that even I'm confused. What just happened between the two of us was something he wasn't prepared for. I met an old friend of his in Hell, and he told me everything there was to know about Hao.

"Wow," Faust put simply.

"Yeah. I'm going to talk to him," he said, staggering off-balance to the door. He pushed it aside and entered the house.

"He went upstairs," Anna called from the living room," Try not to cause anything drastic."

"Sure, Anna," he called back.

He trotted down the hall and up the wooden stairs. The door to Hao's room was still duct-taped to the slides. His door, on the other hand, was open wide; the person who entered it was moving in too much of a hurry to care about closing it.

Yoh walked through his door slowly, trying to come up with something to say to him. He couldn't really think of anything. Things were happening too fast for all of this to seem real; it just didn't see, plausible. He could hear Hao moving around on the other side of the wall, his footsteps beating an erratic tattoo in Yoh's ears. Hesitantly, he found the courage he needed, pushed the door open, and entered Hao's room.

Hao was franticly walking from one side of the room to the other, a backpack in his hands. He tossed clothes in as he went, picking up anything and he could get a hold on shoving it into the bag.

"What are you doing?"

He continued to ignore Yoh's presence, choosing instead to rummage through his nearly vacant dresser.

"Hao," he asked again," what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he answered angrily," I'm leaving this place."

"You can't be serious! Both the Patch and I will come after you!"

"I'd like to see you try. I may not be a shaman anymore," he grunted, tossing aside the chairs in the alcove in search of the dismantled oracle pager," but I sure as hell can avoid you for as long I want."

"That pager is done for, Hao. You saw it explode. Anyway, you won't survive for very long when the rest of the X-Laws find out that you're alive."

"I don't care anymore."

"I'm not letting you leave. I made a promise to Goldva that I would keep you safe!"

"Why don't you go kill yourself with a clod of dirt," he said bitterly," You certainly have more than enough furiyoku."

"What do you mean by that? I thought you said that controlling the elements didn't require a lot of it."

"I did," Hao said, shoving past his twin to gain access to Yoh's room. He sunk down to his knees, looking under his pillow for something. Within no time, he pulled out the orange and black pager and began to press the hidden buttons with quick, lucid strokes. Upon finding what he wanted, he threw it at Yoh and watched him with unconcealed fury.

"What?" he asked, stopping to glance at the glass screen. He stared in shock, his rather large furiyoku reading branding itself into his mind," But…how? I didn't mean to…"

"It doesn't matter! You now have what it took me a millennium to accomplish," Hao growled, standing up and making his way to the door," I hope you're happy."

Reclaiming his senses, Yoh dashed to stand in front of the doorway, blocking Hao's exit," No, I don't want you to leave."

"Get out of my way," he warned, his eyes burning with flames of rage," Now."

In a desperate attempt at stalling, Yoh brought the memories that he had gained from last night to front of his mind. It probably wasn't the best move he could have made, but it got Hao to stop for a second.

Hao's face froze in what Yoh would later recall as fear. He didn't recognize it at first, the emotion being so out of place for his twin. Suddenly, Hao pushed past him, making a beeline for the staircase. Yoh followed him in a full sprint, trying to catch up to his faster counterpart. Ahead of him, Hao dashed down the hallway and ran out the front door.

Upon reaching outside, the ex-onmyôji was nowhere to be found. Faust looked up from his sitting position by Ren, a calculating expression taking over his face as he tried to put two and two together.

"Should I have stopped him?" he asked wearily.

"Well…Which way did he go?"

"…to the right? I'm not sure. I was trying to concentrate on reviving Ren when he ran out. I take it that it didn't go as planned?"

"Not at all, Faust. There was no plan to begin with," he admitted, jogging over to the stone archway," I better go after him."

"No. Don't," Anna called from the open doorway, her hands on her hips," He'll come back eventually. He's not that stupid."

"What? But Anna," he reasoned," If the Goldva finds out that he's missing, we're both screwed."

"He needs some time away from you to get his thoughts straight. This wouldn't have had to happen if you hadn't chased him."

"Maybe, but he's alone out there. What if an enemy of his finds him? He'd be dead and we wouldn't have a clue!"

"Drop it, Yoh. You don't give him enough credit; he's an adult, sixty times your age, if you've forgotten. He'll come back in one piece, you'll see."

He gave up then. Anna had her reasons, and they were something that he couldn't argue with. It was like trying to convince a tidal wave to stop just as it was about to crash into land; an unstoppable force. Yoh hoped that this unstoppable force would help keep Hao safe, if not bring him back home.

It started to rain.

OoOOooOOoo

"Anna, turn it back to the news station. I thought I heard something odd."

"Fine," she replied, clicking her remote to three stations back.

"_This morning, the forecast predicted a hot, sunny day. Unfortunately, this has changed dramatically in the past few hours._ _Torrential downpours still continue to fall in the general Kanto region. The causes if it's sudden onset, much like the recent cold front and isolated earthquakes, have not yet been determined. Citizens living in the afflicted area are advised not to drive unless absolutely necessary and to prepare for flash flooding in the Tokyo suburbs of Yokohama, Funbarigaoka, Kawasaki, and Chiba."_

"Yoh, he'll be fine."

"Anna, it's been five hours since he left. He could be lost or worse."

"I highly doubt that one such as him is merely 'lost.' He is, or rather was, an onmyôji," she reassured bluntly," He'll be fine."

"Hmm…"

"Go finish cleaning the dishes to occupy yourself."

"Alright," he sighed, reluctant to leave his perch on the windowsill. The rain had not relented for even the slightest moment, giving the entire outside world a dark, wet, depressing appearance. Yoh hadn't moved from the spot he was in, much to the other's surprise. He had refused to cook dinner for Anna, forcing Ryu and Tamao to make it instead. Anna was at first appalled at his behavior, but she did not to punish him for it. He would get something extra added to his training the next day, she decided.

The other resident shaman had woken up feeling immensely confident. They spent the rest of the afternoon sparring with each other with their new powers, too engrossed in their own business to notice that Hao had disappeared. Their furiyoku, being temporarily cut in half after being revived, had run out quickly and went straight to sleep after dinner was served. it wasn't as if Yoh minded. The added silence was comforting, in a way.

Without complaint, he went to work on the large pile of dirty cookware. He channeled all of his uncharacteristic worry into them, scrubbing away the grime with his fears. Throughout the hour, he made quick, frequent checks at the clock above the sink. The passing moments did nothing to soothe him. Time felt like it had slowed down for him; each minute an agonizing eternity. By the time the young shaman finished, the old clock obnoxiously chimed out eleven o' clock PM.

He walked back out into the living room, his arms folded over his chest. Anna sat where she had left him, the channel she was watching turned back to the news.

"_As the night moves on, the storm seems to be getting worse. The temperature is slowly dropping by the hour, possibly to the degree of freezing rain. Thunder and lightning are now being reported across the western Kanto region. Stay away from large windows and appliances to avoid electrical injury for those caught in the storm. Power outages are predicted to be common, and generators should be at the ready for any important devices…"_

"Anna…," he began, almost pleadingly.

"Fine, Yoh," she gave in, annoyed," Alright. Go find him. Don't say I didn't tell you so when you find out that he's perfectly _fine_."

"Thank you, Anna," he said, relived. Saying a half-mumbled good-bye, he stumbled around the house for a few items. Among them was his rubber rain jacket, a flashlight, Harusame, and Amidamaru, although the last wasn't really an object. He shoved the flashlight under his trench coat and left the house speed-walking.

Reaching the stone archway, he paused. He still had no idea which way Hao went.

"Umm…what do we do now?"

"Lord Yoh, I saw him leave that way earlier," the samurai directed, pointing a semi-transparent finger to his right.

"Thanks Amidamaru," he replied, already taking off in the direction of the town. The spirit followed behind him, watching in all directions in case they accidentally overlooked the long-haired ex-shaman. The road to the outer fringes of Funbari Hill was a long one; nearly a mile of dirt, now thick mud, and deep holes riddled the path. Raining only made the trip seem longer as the thick, heavy raindrops pounded into Yoh almost painfully. Like the news anchor had said, they seemed to be getting colder as the night dragged on.

The two reached the outskirts of the actual Funbari Hill and decided to split up to cover more ground, faster. Amidamaru took the less populated, industrial side of town, while Yoh began his search in the high-rise, Tokyo part of the city. They felt for, rather than actually looked, for Hao's distinct aura. It was never a problem to locate him before, as his personal aura was incredibly unique: a dark, foreboding feeling accompanied the ex-shaman around like a permanent rain cloud. An hour or so passed between the time they arrived at the city until they met up again near the Heiyu supermarket. Neither were successful, not even a faint trace of him appeared.

"Sorry, Lord Yoh. I tried the old cemetery by the bus station near the bowling alley. I asked around, and none of the ghosts I talked to had even heard of him, let alone seen him. "

"Nothing here either. Can you do me a favor Amidamaru, and go back to the house and ask Anna to locate him? I forgot that she even could before I left," he admitted somberly," It could have saved us a great deal of time."

"Actually, I forgot as well. I'll be back soon," the spirit assured, floating up into the sky and darting off in the direction of the inn.

With nothing else to do, the young shaman wandered around, finding himself led back to the cemetery where he first met Manta. The Mata Cemetery's two large hills adorned with a single Sakura tree and a shrine stuck out of the city's interior like a sore thumb. It was a peaceful place, for any shaman really. In a moment of stunned deja vu, he realized that the place he had been looking for was here all along.

Yoh hopped the low iron fence blocking the entrance to the cemetery and walked along the pathway that led to the stone stairs. A ghost sat near his favorite tree, reclining against it. Ascending the short flight of stairs, he came to the bridge that connected the two hills. He crossed it, already forming a question to ask the spirit about his twin. He came to a stop mere feet away before he realized that the 'ghost' he thought he had seen earlier was, in fact, Hao.

The reason for his careless mistake was one that anyone would have made. The white shirt he wore was completely drenched and gave him the impression that he appeared transparent. His skin was pale as well, which only added to the ghostly theme. He sat against the tree, his thin arms wrapped around his knees with is back facing his twin. Yoh sighed in relief and walked over to stand in front of him.

Hao was soaked to the bone with icy rain, his clothes and hair plastered to his skin and face. He was shivering uncontrollably; his pearly white teeth were chattering. Staring blankly off into the distance, he wouldn't look as Yoh came near him.

Yoh sat down next to him with a small _huff _and Hao continued to ignore him as he did so. They stayed in silence for a while, even when the thunderstorm began to crash around the twins. The rain fell harder than it had before, pelting the two with it's chilling temperature. After nearly ten minutes had passed, Hao broke the silence.

"What makes you think that I'll come back with you?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, gut instinct?"

"Bullshit," Hao murmured," You came here to drag me back whether or not I wanted that."

"I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"That's not what you said earlier. You tried to stop me from leaving."

"I did. But, maybe having time to yourself was something you needed."

"Did Anna convince you of that or did you prepare that on your own?"

"I came back to find you because I was worried that you were hurt. It wasn't as though I thought that you couldn't take care of yourself, which you can."

"You can see that I'm fine," he sighed, his teeth chattering," Cold and soaked, but intact nonetheless."

"I didn't mean physically, Hao."

"You think I'm a mental case, don't you?" he hissed," That I'm still grieving after what happened all those years ago? I got rid of those emotions. They made me weak."

"Actually, I do think you're still upset. You wouldn't have fought in the tournament if you weren't still angry at the entirety of humanity."

"I have other reasons for wanting to kill humans other than because they plagued me with their putrid thoughts."

"I know that."

"You do, do you," he asked skeptically.

"You're lonely."

"And why would you care?" he said back," Why would you even give a damn about me? Don't give me that 'brotherly love' shit."

"You don't trust anyone."

"No, I don't."

"I'm just asking for you to cooperate with me for once in your life without having a fit! Mutual respect is fine with me for the time being and I don't expect you to trust me instantly. It's not that simple, Hao. You can take all the time you need," he said gently, getting up and offering a hand to him to help him up," But, let's get back home before this storm gets any worse. All of this cold rain can't be doing you any good."

"Come on," he said again after Hao showed no intention of moving," You're going to get sick if you stay out here."

Hao glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, not wishing to make true eye contact with him. After nearly deciding against it, he slowly removed his hand from around his legs and offered it to his twin. Yoh grabbed it and hoisted him up.

"Geez, your hand is freezing," he exclaimed. He watched as Hao stood on his feet, shivering and snaking his arms around his chest," Here, take my jacket," Yoh sighed, draping the long trench coat around Hao's bony shoulders. He wrapped it around himself without commenting and stared at his feet, not really wanting to speak to him.

"Follow me," the younger encouraged. He walked off in the direction of the cemetery exit. Hao tailed him from a few feet behind at a slower pace, his legs guiding him after his brother. They set off on foot out of the in nearly deserted city. The south side of town's traffic was nonexistent in the bad weather.

As the twins reached the end of the asphalt and stepped onto the old dirt road, Amidamaru appeared overhead. He dropped down to greet Yoh, and gave the impassive Hao a confused look.

"You found him? When? Where? Anna couldn't find him, so I came back to tell you that…Sorry, Lord Yoh," the ghost apologized sheepishly," I should have known that you would find him."

"Its okay, Amidamaru," he said, not stopping his walking pace. He glanced back at Hao, following quietly in his wake. The elder of the two looked drained, his pale face taking on a slightly bluish tinge as the cold set in. _That's not a good sign. Maybe he really does have hypothermia, _Yoh fretted. _Hao? Are you feeling lightheaded at all?_

He received a faint nod in response, but it looked more like a bob of his head as he traversed the muddy path than anything else. Yoh slowed his pace to match his, not wanting him to pass out without someone to catch him.

The house was a mile out in the distance; a flat road, minus the potholes lining the ditches at the edges. At their current pace, it would only take them twenty minutes tops. The pouring rain and clashing lightning only made it seem much longer than it really was.

Anna was in her tan raincoat, standing outside of the gate when the inn came into view. She watched inquisitively as Yoh came up to her, the umbrella still held above his head.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she asked angrily," You could have been electrocuted to death by a stray bolt of lightning."

"Umm…I forgot?" he said sheepishly," I didn't even consider that when I left and it never occurred to me."

She sighed at his antics, shaking her head side to side," The Inn lost power less than an hour ago. It's running on a generator, so only the fridge and water pipes are working for the moment. I lit some candles around the house, but that's the extent of our light source."

"How is everyone else? Asleep?"

"Yes. They wouldn't have woken up anyway if the roof over their heads was lifted up by a tornado."

Yoh looked at his freezing twin, who was busy staring at the house," We'll have to get you dry," he commented half to himself," Taking a bath, even if we had power, probably wouldn't be a good idea with your body temp lower than normal."

"Hao, listen to him," Anna snapped.

Hao merely glanced at her and she stopped talking. Yoh didn't know if it was some type of empathic telepathy between the two or another silent form of communication, but it seemed to work.

"Get him inside, Yoh," she ordered, the volume of her voice dropping lower than her norm," Before he freezes."

"Uh…sure," he blinked," Come on, Hao. You heard her."

He walked as silently as always behind Yoh as he entered the dark house, not having a problem with finding his way around in pitch-black unlike his inept twin. He kicked off his water-logged shoes and tossed the raincoat in a wet pile. Hao stepped past him and walked off in the direction of the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

It was eerily quiet inside the main building of the inn. The faint shadows created by the candles painted creeping creatures on the walls. If he hadn't known them already, he would have whimpered in terror as the ghosts haunting the house passed through the rooms, their intentions unclear. They continued on as if nothing were wrong.

Yoh sauntered over to the other side of the living room and called inside," I'm going to get you some clothes. I'll be back in a minute." Hao didn't respond, as usual, when Yoh walked away from the door. He stumbled through the dark and grabbed a tea candle placed on the table by Anna, who sat down and watched the bathroom door with almost menacing intensity. He marched upstairs, taking into account that the other shamans wouldn't mind if he made a raucous, and grabbed clean pajamas and a pair of dry socks from his dresser, remembering that Hao's was empty. Almost as an afterthought, he tossed off his own soaked clothing and exchanged them for dry sleep-wear as well. He walked back down the gloomy stairs and entered the hallowed living room.

Hao and Anna sat at the table, the former clad in a white towel around his waist. She didn't speak, but only stared at Hao's hands as he rubbed them together to try and warm them. Anna stood up as Yoh came in and exited the room, going upstairs to her own bed. She didn't say anything.

"Here," he said softly, offering the dry clothes to Hao when she left. He refused to make eye contact with Yoh, but stood up and took them from him, turning back to the bathroom to change, his drying dark hair following his movements.

Yoh waited for him to come back out, standing all the while. It took Hao a good fifteen minutes to open the door but his expression was a little more relaxed than it had been before. He looked exhausted, the whitish pallor of his face a stark contrast to his darkened eyelids. As he made his way past Yoh, moving in the direction of his room, Yoh spoke up.

"Is sleeping such a good idea if you're that cold?"

He didn't get the reply he wanted.

Yoh followed him up the stairs, trying to reason with him," What if you go into a coma again?"

"_I'm fine,"_ Hao whispered.

"No one is 'fine' when they are freezing. You can't generate enough heat as you are. Sleep in my bed."

_"No."_

"You know you'll die if you can't get warm."

The ex-shaman paused as he stood in front of Yoh's room, his hand on the door. He gripped the handle tightly for a moment and pulled it open, stepping inside and allowing his twin to pass after him. Hao stood next to the bed, glaring at it with a mixture of emotions. The warmth that it promised was tempting, but the embarrassment of consciously crawling into bed with Yoh defiled the aspect of it. Exhaling noisily, he gave up and buried himself under the covers. As Yoh crept in beside him, Hao turned and faced the opposite direction toward his room.

Within mere minutes, Yoh was snoring loudly.

Time passed slowly, as it did for those who chose to be awake in a house filled with the sleeping. When he felt confident that the young shaman was deeply asleep, judging by the foggy dream that his mind sent out, Hao turned around and stared at his twin's sleeping face for a long while. With great hesitation and apprehension, he slowly inched toward the only source of heat in the room. He would have cringed at the thought of doing it under any other circumstances, but he had to do it.

The actions of Yoh in the past hour were greatly troubling to the ex-shaman. Something was getting dangerously close to breaking inside of him, but whether it was a good or a bad thing, he couldn't tell. Hao felt his ancient heart clench almost painfully when he thought of what might happen.

Soon, with these thoughts on his mind, the thawing ex-shaman passed out in dreamless sleep huddled up against his brother.

ooOOooOOoo

The downpour had not stopped. Outside, the rain crashed down onto the roof with loud pattering accompanied by the loud flashes and booms lighting and thunder. It reflected an ominous atmosphere into inn, making all of the residents slightly depressed.

Against Yoh's fervent wishes, Hao had woken up with a fever and had soon taken to sitting in Yoh's bed, swathed in a pile of blankets. He sat there all day unable to sleep, choosing to stare blankly into nothingness. Faust checked on him periodically, but he refused to speak. Instead, he let the doctor do what he wanted without protest. Not that Faust had anything to complain about.

In fact, he spoke to no one. Yoh respected his silence, but it grew frustrating as the day went on. Straight-up ignored to his face, he tried to get Hao to eat something. He hadn't so much as glanced at the warm food left for him on the night-stand.

At around noon when all of his chores were finished, Yoh grabbed a glass of water and marched upstairs. If anything, he was going to make Hao drink. And if he had to shove the liquid of life down his throat, then so be it. Dehydration was not an appealing thing to add on the surmounting list of problems his twin had.

The room was deathly quiet as Yoh entered. Even the sound of breathing seemed out of place; it penetrated the air inside with a strange, intruding quality. Hao lay beneath two thick blankets where he had been nearly four hours ago, curled up inside the futon with the top of his dark head poking out on the pillow from beneath the covers.

Yoh walked over to the pillow and sat cross-legged down beside him. He placed the glass of water by his knees and heaved a sigh. His hand wavered over the spot where he thought that Hao's shoulder was and after a moment of hesitation, he gently shook it, trying to get him to at least acknowledge his presence.

"Hao, I know you're awake under there."

The pile of blankets didn't move.

"You'll only get worse by dehydrating yourself."

"….."

"I'll wait. I've got the rest of the day off, aside from making dinner," he said, making himself more comfortable on the bamboo flooring.

Hao, indeed awake, thought that on any other day he would have insulted the teen for disturbing his peace. Today though, he found that his presence, sickeningly enough, was _calming_. He refused to understand why, but he felt more at ease than being alone. Although he knew deep down that the truth of the matter was different, it was too unbearable for his blackened heart to accept. For this reason, he had been trying to ignore speaking or committing to any other social contact with Yoh for the past twenty hours.

"Hao, I'm sorry."

The remark caught him off guard. No one, absolutely no one, had _ever _apologized to him_. _People simply didn't do that, not that they would have a reason for doing so to begin with. Against his better judgment, he absorbed his twin's thoughts and tried to make sense of them.

Yoh's mind, like very few other ones he had encountered in the last one thousand years, was what he liked to call a 'white' mind. The 'white' aspect, which really wasn't colored, but more of that it gave the impression that that is what color it would be if it were, was distinguishable by unfaltering optimism. It was basically pure in a sense, in that it wasn't clouded by doubt, fear, anger, or greed. The 'color' itself, he reasoned, came from a mixture of blind innocence and maturity. He envied Yoh's secure naivety; his unfaltering sense of eternal peace had only lasted for less than three years.

Yoh was thinking about revealing his memory of two nights ago. Hao had had no recollection of what had happened that night, and the sudden realization that he had actually cried in front of another person was revolting to him to say the least. His once fearful reputation was doomed to be down the drain after this. But, he was getting the feeling that that was not why Yoh apologized.

"I have an idea of what you were dreaming about the other night."

The near twin-like telepathy that Yoh just exerted at that exact moment was startling. The telepathy in question didn't exist of course, as he would have known about it before this. Hao was too caught up in analyzing the apology to actually notice that the teen's mind was sharper than he gave him credit for, and thus, he completely missed that Yoh was beginning to learn how Hao thought about things.

"Was it about the night your mother died?"

Hao's eyes widened slightly at this, and he suddenly sat up to glare at Yoh. The younger of the twins was expecting this to happen, and had prepared himself for any fast, random movements.

"_Do not," _he warned," apologize for the death of my mother."

"I feel bad, for her of course, but more for you."

"I _don't_ want your pity and I certainly _don't _want you to go into detail of my sleeping habits. Just drop it and forget that it ever happened."

"I can't. I care about you."

"Don't even think that," he ground out between clenched teeth," nobody cares for me. I've accepted that fact and I've lived with it for the past ten centuries. _You_ can't decide one day to just change that."

"And why not," he questioned, making eye contact with his flustered older brother for the first time in the span of a day.

"Because that's not how things work!"

"Is that your ego talking, or the real you?"

Hao could have screamed in frustration. Why didn't his ignorant, naive twin just understand that one concept? It really wasn't that hard to grasp, for Great Spirit's sake!

"Deep down, I know you want to be loved."

"Here you go again with this shit! Do you honestly expect me to break down and bawl my eyes out just because you waltz in here and tell me that you _love me?"_

"You still have nightmares about your mother's death," he reasoned," That's proof enough that you really do want to be accepted."

"Leave my mother out of this!" he screeched, "She has nothing to do with us!"

"Actually, I think she does."

Hao had gone silent with rage again, his head turned away from his twin.

"Your mother was brutally killed just because she could see ghosts, leaving you all alone. You're angry at the world for forgetting and abandoning you and it's made you cold-hearted and bitter toward everyone. You've been betrayed so many times that you've actually lost the ability to trust others, and it's sad that you have. You deserve better than that. It's upsetting to me that you're lonely all of the time, but I took you in so that you wouldn't be anymore."

"_Shut. The Hell. Up," _Hao growled back at him slowly. His eyes had taken on a murderous glint as he addressed Yoh. "You have no_ fucking idea _what it's like to be utterly abandoned and hated just for being _alive_. You have no right to talk down to me as if you understand what I had to go through, what I went through, for the past millennium because I merely _lived _with a power that _slowly_," he said with an insane look creeping into his eyes. He twisting the blankets in his hands for emphasis," _drove me mad_."

"You're absolutely right. I don't know what you've been through, and I doubt that anyone does."

Hao's angry face went blank as he took in Yoh's thoughts, pained realization slowly seeping into his features.

"Your heart is melting, and you're powerless to stop it."

The elder of the twins had no clue as to how Yoh knew this and how he had kept it a hidden secret from him for so long.

"You told me yesterday that you got rid of your emotions a long time ago, but I don't believe that for a minute. You took in Opacho like your own child. I see you get frustrated all of the time like a normal human being. You even made us ashoge, which Silva told me about. You _care _about what people say to you, whether or not you acknowledge it. And, you hesitated in killing me for the Great Spirit.

"When Matamune told me about your past, especially about how you acquired _reishi _from Ohachiyo and couldn't control it, you reminded me of someone else we both know."

Again, the realization that Yoh had made this connection left him shock.

"The only person that I know of who went through anything remotely like you did is Anna. She was born with _reishi_ and the same things happened to her: abandonment because she had powers that people feared, oni creation, mistrust of mankind, hatred, and near insanity. But unlike you, she lost that demonic power after I befriended her because I taught her how to trust again. Matamune's help alone couldn't have saved you, and he knows this and yet he still blames himself for it after all these years.

"But something happened to you when we came to know each other. I was the first person to actually care about your well-being, since Matamune of course. You were repulsed by this and tried to hide that fact that you were beginning to tolerate having me around you for long periods of time. But," Yoh sighed, smiling to himself," you're a horrible actor. Your eyes reveal everything about you.

"It was only a matter of time until you felt comfortable around me, enough so that you even wanted to be near me. Of course, the bitter side of your heart refused to let you actually accept that fact so you tried to stay as far away from me as possible because the real you was afraid of rejection. That's why I told you that trust wasn't a thing that just _happened_.

"And then I met Matamune in Hell. When I found out who you really were and how you came to be who you are today, your bitter side got the better of you and became afraid that your emotions would surface, so you ran away from me. I found you later last night in a state of mental war. You couldn't decide whether or not to just give up and trust me or leave for good and never come back. I sat by you until you decided what to do with yourself and you came home. And then when you got here, you holed yourself up in my room to try and prevent this very conversation from happening. Up until fifteen minutes ago, you were still fighting with yourself like you were last night and you still continue to do so as we speak. Finally, now you're afraid that if you actually give me your trust, I'll just reject you like every other person you've come across. Am I right?"

Before Yoh could stop him, Hao had leapt up from the futon and made a mad dash to the door to try and get as far away from Yoh as he could. He would have made it too, if he wasn't afflicted with the fatigue accompanying the fever he had developed.

"Silly," Yoh said, appearing in behind him," Running away from your problems isn't going to help."

Hao whipped around, backing up into the door behind him. His appearance turned to panic as Yoh inched closer to him, that stupid smile of his plastered across his face. He felt dangerously close to something breaking inside of him; unfortunately, he knew what was, too.

"Get away from me," he warned, but his voice lacked any real venom.

Laughing in a high, melodious peal, Yoh closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around his twin in a warm embrace. He held on as the elder of the two registered what just happened to him. Hao stiffened as he was hugged, consciously, for perhaps the first time since his mother died, his face contorting into an expression of absolute fear.

"Relax," he giggled into Hao's shoulder," I'm not trying to kill you."

His breathing all but stopped as he realized that no matter how hard he would try, he wouldn't be able to get away. The untrusting side of him recoiled in shock as it also realized that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to.

He could feel all of the things he had put up in his mind and heart to protect himself slowly break off as he felt Yoh squeeze tighter around his chest.

"I love you, Hao."

The remark he had said earlier about waltzing suddenly became obsolete and ironic when he felt the last of his ancient defenses break away. His shoulders began to shake and his large chocolate brown eyes clouded over with suppressed tears. Hao slowly mimicked Yoh's actions and latched his arms under his twin's like his life depended upon it and surrendered himself to the emotions that he had tried to lock away for so long.

After a thousand years of loneliness, Asakura Hao cried.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

ToT

I hope you all liked this chapter. I know I sure did, and I cried along with His Majesty. I'm a sap for my own story? Who would have thought…. :D

For those of you who don't read the Japanese scanlations or the actual raw, 'Funbarigoaka' is Japanese for 'Funbari Hill.'

If you guys didn't catch it, the weather…uh...never mind, I should say anything! Too important for chapters to come!

Brotherly love is brotherly, but it is not yaoi. Nevah!

Hmm…yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say about this. I think the chapter itself is pretty self-explanatory

Thanks for reading and review please! I would appreciate it very much. :)


	10. Mother

Chapter Ten

Mother

A/N:

Hello people of the Shaman King fandom! I have another chapter ready for you guys and this one's a bit of a doozy. It's not too long per se, but rather it is chock full of info that ties up a couple of things. Yayz for my own epiphany with the chapter title.

I hope you all thought that the ending of the last chapter was a plausible outcome in regards to Hao's….grief.

If you find that my math and calendar reading skills fail in this chapter, please let me know. Takei messes with my head!

I do not own Takei Hiroyuki's _Shaman King _or any song written and/or performed by Nickelback.

**Warning: There is some information in here that relates to the final volume of Shaman King, more importantly the second to last chapter. If you have not read the Kang Zeng Bang version, which is only in Japanese at the moment, or don't know how it ends, then I suggest that you try to...ignore the flashback. It's not detrimental to spoiling the entire thing, but it would be a better ending if you don't know this particular fact between Hao and Anna.**

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

The Asakura twins had but one thing in common other than the fact that they were identical. They both suffered the complete hatred of waking up in the morning. It was a sunny nine-fifteen, but as far as Asakura Hao was concerned, it was too damn early.

He knew he was awake when he felt the sun's rays shine down through the window onto his uncovered face; the warmth of it making his eyelids flutter. He groaned, unhappy with this arrangement, and flipped over to shove his dark head into the soft pillow. He tried to fall back into blissful unconsciousness, until a revelation occurred within his mind. Hao grimaced as the memories of what happened last night came flooding back to him.

No matter how he tried to deny it to himself, he had had a nervous breakdown in front of Yoh. For a good part of an hour he had cried in the arms of his twin. It was and will be certainly awkward and humiliating for him, but he went through it without complaint nonetheless. He hadn't really cared at the time exactly who was holding onto him, but he was somewhat glad now that Yoh was the one.

He exhaled noisily as he tried to suppress the emotions he had felt last night resurface again. His vision became watery and blurred when fresh tears sprung to his eyes. Hao quickly wiped them away. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he crawled out of the bed and stood up to stretch. Almost drunkenly, he walked over to Yoh's dresser and pulled out a pair of dark jeans and a plain white dress shirt. Hao put them on without much thought. Unlike his twin, he buttoned up the shirt.

The young shaman still left in the futon suddenly stopped snoring as he came into the world of the living. He propped himself up on his elbows and yawned until his jaw threatened to unhinge. Stretching his arms out on both sides, he turned to look at his twin. Almost as an afterthought, he glanced at the clock. Yoh rubbed his eyes and checked again. Shock coursed through his veins when he registered that he was indeed awake after the crack of dawn. He flung himself back onto the bed and draped an arm over his eyes.

"Hao?" he asked hesitantly. He could hear his twin rummaging around the room. "Did something happen while I slept? Why didn't Anna charge in here when I didn't wake up at the usual time?"

"I know as much as you do," he stated blankly, glancing at Yoh out of the corner of his peripheral vision. He grabbed the silver earrings of on the dresser and proceeded to put them back on his ears.

"Odd," he mused," How are you?"

"Fine," he replied absently. He knew that Yoh was addressing his mental state rather than physical well being. With his hair in a tangled mess, Hao sat down with a dissatisfied _huff_ on the floor and tackled his long strands of mahogany with a brush he also took off of the dresser.

"Hmm. I guess I better get up then,"Yoh sighed dramatically. He slowly lifted himself off the futon and, like Hao, walked drunkenly over to the bureau. "You're not still feeling sick, are you?"

"No," Hao said quietly, untangling a particularly strangled knot in his hair manually with his fingers. Yoh yanked out his usual attire, pulled off the white yukata, and slipped it on.

"If you're worried that I will tell anyone about what happened last night, I won't. I know Anna will figure it out eventually, but that will be the extent of it."

"….Thanks," he said awkwardly, refusing to look up at Yoh as he said so.

Yoh grinned, his face lighting up.

"But I think your fiancé wants to make an announcement."

A confused expression brushed the grin away momentarily. "About what?"

"You will find out soon enough."

"She told _you _and not _me?_" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Hao relented somberly," A few days ago."

"Why would she have done that? I thought she didn't trust you."

"She does. The feeling is mutual."

Yoh's face betrayed complete shock. "What? I thought you didn't trust anybody until last night."

Hao stopped brushing momentarily before he began again. "She is different. That is all you need to know."

"Umm….okay. Whatever you say," Yoh said, miffed. He kept staring at Hao as he continued to tame his dark mane of hair. After doing so for a moment or two, a strange thought occurred to him. "What happened the other day? You know, when you asked Anna to speak to you upstairs?"

"Again, you do not really need to know. What you should be informed of anyway, Anna will tell you later."

Yoh sighed, knowing it was pointless to continue prompting his brother. He probably had a better chance of getting a plant to speak fluent Japanese.

Hao commented nonchalantly when Yoh thought of this. "You are right, actually. Plants can talk."

Yoh narrowed his eyes at his twin. _Talking plants? He really_ did_ go off the deep end._

"I resent that," he said, "Let us see you try becoming an onmyôji without speaking to a plant or two. You will come crawling back to me when you find out that I am right."

"Hmm…"

"You do not believe me?" he asked, turning to look at Yoh with a disapproving glare. "What happened to understanding the earth? It speaks, just like the rest of the world."

…_He's right._

"Yes, I am," Hao said. He stood up and placed the brush back upon the dresser. "Shall we be going, o'savior? Your lady awaits downstairs."

"Yeah…I guess. Can you tell me one thing?"

"That depends," he sighed, sliding open the door.

"Is what she wants to tell us something that will come back to haunt me?"

Hao grinned. "_That_ depends on how you look at it," he chuckled softly. He walked off in the direction of the stairs, whistling to some tune Yoh couldn't recognize. Yoh followed his twin, wishing that he hadn't even asked that question.

Downstairs in the living room, the shaman of the inn sat around the table. They looked up expectantly as the identical teens entered, their blank expressions changing into ones of confusion.

"Good, you're awake," Anna said. She sat at the head of the table in her usual spot. To Yoh, she seemed the happiest she had ever been. Her normally cold eyes had softened somewhat, beckoning him over to sit by her. Confused, he sat down beside her with Hao following suit on his other side. He winked knowingly at his future sister-in-law. Her eyes widened as she suspected him of telling Yoh the subject of their immanent conversation in their strange communication. He shook his head and she visibly relaxed.

The food assembled before them was untouched. With a quick 'let's eat,' Anna commenced the breakfast. Ryu had prepared it, along with Tamao. Strangely enough, the itako had even told them that Yoh and Hao were not to be woken up. Even stranger, Hao smiled throughout the meal. The very uncharacteristic actions of both ex-shaman and okami soon began to get to the younger of the twins until he eventually spoke.

"Why is everyone so _happy_? Hao," he said to his grinning twin," I know part of why you are. But Anna," he started incredulously at his fiancé," I've never seen you like this."

Anna's pleasant aura suddenly turned cold. "Am I not entitled to be in a good mood once in a while?"

"Yeah, everyone is, but this is…different. What exactly did you want to tell me?" he asked nervously, not wanting to ruin her mood even further.

She shot Hao another glare, her eyes narrowing.

"Hey, I did not tell him," he replied, faking childish innocence.

Anna sighed and turned back to face the small crowd. "Fine, I did want to tell you people something."

Their faces piqued hesitant interest. An almost cliché dramatic pause followed Anna's clear voice.

"I'm pregnant."

ooOOooOOoo

_ Hao glared at the itako standing before him and noticed something he hadn't expected to see. _"You are pregnant?"

_ Anna's eyes widened unexpectedly and she slapped him across the face, her own cheeks blushing. She hurriedly replied back in the same low voice that Hao used. Yoh was right behind her, after all._

"How did you figure that out?"

_ Hao gave her a mocking look. _"It is not that hard to figure out, you know. Your moodiness and that,"_ he nodded in the direction of the small bump on Anna's stomach," _are pretty good indicators."

"I want to talk you about this, but we'll have to do it upstairs in your room. Any objections?"

_ Hao didn't reply, focusing on gleaning Yoh's mind for any information on this particular subject._

_ "_Very well. We'll talk. I'll be up there in a after my soap is over," _she replied after he didn't respond. The ogre familiars binding him to the wall disappeared and he fell to the floor after his legs gave out. He stood up carefully, not really trusting his own limbs to support him. Hao turned to leave, glancing at Yoh before leaving to his own room. _

_ He flopped upon the futon when he reached his room, his body splayed out spread-eagled. _He's a lucky little bastard, _Hao thought_ _slyly. He yawned hugely, his subconscious letting him know that he was indeed tired. When Anna didn't show up in the next fifteen minutes, he bean to grow rather drowsy. Without realizing it, he let his aching body surrender to much-needed sleep._

_ *****_

_ "_Wake up."

_ Hao jolted out of his semi-silent reverie, his _reishi _already kicking in to full power. He groaned and flipped himself onto his back to face the itako standing above. She sat down beside him, a curious expression beginning to dance across her face._

_ He propped himself up onto his elbows to get a better look at Anna. Her fingers twitched as she stared at the futon he laid upon. Being empathic, he was always acutely attuned to the emotions of others. Anna was different, though. She was as mentally mute to him as nobody else was. Hao couldn't explain it, but he figured that the reason why she was so had something to do with Anna looking like his mother._

_ The two had built up a strange sort of relationship over the last year. They were tied by a general distrust of humans (and shamans). It was a sort of symbiotic one; neither of them gained or lost anything. _

"Your family isn't prone to having large children, are they?"

_ Hao was surprised by this question. He didn't really need to be able to read her thoughts to be able to conclude that she was nervous. _"No. We're actually on the small side."

_ Anna visibly deflated and let her shoulders relax. _"Thanks."

"How far along are you?"

"Five months."

_ He cocked an elegant eyebrow. _"And you've managed to keep it a secret for that long?"

"Not exactly. Kino, your grandmother, knows. That's it."

"Yoh doesn't know about his own kid?"

"No yet. It was conceived the night before he left for America. We were worried that he would die in the tournament, so we agreed that the Asakuras needed an heir. Neither of us knew about you at the time. When I found out that I was pregnant, I didn't tell him. Even when we were reunited after I ran into you outside of the Patch Village, he never found out. I was afraid that if he did know, he would get distracted during the tournament and want to focus all of his attention on me instead of you."

_ He nodded at her reason; it was a wise thing of her to do._

_ Although he didn't quite know why, Anna began spilling her heart out to him. _"I was born with what you call _reishi_. It plagued me as nothing else ever could. As you know firsthand, it wasn't pleasant. People's thoughts, emotions, wants, and needs flooded into me, poisoning me," she reminisced painfully, the old memories resurfacing. "I _hated _everyone. Their vile thoughts would never leave, never fade. I was abandoned for what I was able to do, and my surname came from one of the other names of the mountain that Asakura Kino found me: Mt. Osorezan.

"She taught me the ways of the itako. I listened, mostly because I couldn't do anything else. She saw the power I held inside of me and she tried to help. I wouldn't accept her trust and I eventually locked myself away from everyone. Nobody talked to me and vice versa. I wanted nothing more than to die. That was, until Yoh was announced as my fiancé. Kino told me of him and of your family's achievements. I told her I didn't care. The day he was supposed to show up at the old inn, I went for a walk. It's ironic," she laughed softly," that people have the habit of showing up when you least want them to. He ran into me, literally, that day and I told him to go die. He, of course, being him, refused to believe that and wanted to know who I was. He eventually found out, and he was confused at my behavior.

"He got to know me and what I was tortured by. Somehow, in his own 'Yohish" way, he gained my trust and the _reishi_ just vanished completely. I fell in love with him for what he did for me, and I silently agreed to marry him when we were older."

"And you want to tell me this, why?"

_ She sighed,"_ I feel at ease around you. I can't really explain it, but I'm guessing that it's because we're so similar."

_ Hao narrowed his eyes at this. _"You are hiding something much larger than what you are really saying."

"You're quick,"_ she admitted, _"Yes, I am. I didn't find out until recently, but I think I found out why you can't hear my thoughts."

"Yes?"

"I had to go through Hell, literally and figuratively, to get some dirt on you. You're not exactly the easiest person to research."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"I haven't told Yoh a word of it, if that's what you wanted to know. But I figured that there must be some reason why you look at me like you're trying to picture someone else, someone similar-looking. And, I found out whom by asking her myself."

_ A knot twisted painfully in Hao's stomach. _Impossible.

"Your mother was quite willing to tell me what I wanted to know about you. Apparently, I'm her reincarnation."

_ Hao blanched of all color. He looked at the itako before him in stunned silence._

"She and I both think that because of this, I am immune to your _reishi._ It's also possibly why we feel… sort of comfortable around each other."

_ His face contorted slightly to one of fear. _

_ "_I couldn't talk to her for very long, but she wanted me to give you something. She had me make it for you," _Anna, reaching behind her. She pulled out a medium-sized white-wrapped package with 'Asaha' labeled in eerily familiar elegant script. _"Don't just stare at it. Open it."

_ He blinked, sitting up, and took the package with slightly shaking hands. Anna watched his expression as he slowly opened it with utmost care. He froze when he realized what it was. _

_ It was a dark orange kimono. The silk fabric was incredibly soft and smooth to the touch as he lifted it out of the package. Handmade and embroidered at the bottom with dark blue and white patterns of flowers and leaves, it appeared to have taken quite a long time to have made it. _

"_She really hasn't forgotten you_," _Anna said after Hao had stared at the garment for a long while. He looked away from her and gazed at the wall instead. His vision went blurry as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He tried to hide it from her by shoving the soft orange fabric in his face, but it was a wasted effort. Anna sighed and moved over to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his trembling shoulders in an awkward half-embrace. Hao reluctantly leaned into the contact as Anna pulled him closer. Much to his utter surprise, she began to hum something she always had stuck in her head._

_ He burst into tears. To any other person, the action would have been completely unexpected. To Anna, she knew it would happen. The song she hummed was something Hao had never forgotten, it was something his mother always sang at night when he couldn't sleep; a lullaby. It was a string of soft alliteration cast into a warm melody that rose and fell in pitch like blowing wind. The tune would always surface in his mind at night when he had a particularly stressful day. It comforted him._

_ Anna was never the sympathizing person. She knew she would never be and accepted that. But, she did her best to soothe him. Hao knew this as well, and he melted under her arm and sobbed into her shoulder. After going so long without hearing a word from his mother, this certainly was a shock. It made sense of course, that Anna was her reincarnation; the quick to anger temper, the left-handed slap, and her calm presence in general were just like her. It felt like one of her infamous slaps to the face to actually find out the truth, though._

_ Most people wouldn't have thought that he could cry, let alone have it triggered by his own mother. It wasn't something he wanted to happen, but at least Anna was the only one around. She was the only person he remotely trusted, despite his social issues. The feeling was mutual. Speaking was only an option because they really didn't need to; they knew what the other felt. _

_ The two had a special connection that most people in the world spent their entire lives searching for. Bound together by their pasts, they understood each other in ways that no two other people could, not even Yoh. For this reason, Hao loved her. Unfortunately, Hao knew that he would never have her as his wife. She understood this as well, and hugged him tighter for that. She did love Hao, but not in the same sense. Her heart belonged to Yoh and that was something that he respected, as grim to him as it may seem._

_ Hao sighed, the dreadful sobbing coming to a near cessation. He rubbed his eyes and wiped the tracks of his tears away. His eyes were still red and wet._

"Stay up here for a while_," she offered, getting up_," I won't make you do the chores for today. Expect double the load tomorrow, though._"_

_ He looked up at her, relief flooding through his system. "_Thank you," _he said quietly," _Anna?"

"Yes," _she asked, her hand already on the door to slide it open._

"Can you…stay with me?"

_ She turned around and looked at his pathetically pleading face. _"You've gotten _very _soft in the last few months, you know that?"

_ He nodded._ "It seems so, when I appreciate your company."

_ She hesitated in opening the door behind her. _"I suppose," _she relinquished, walking over to sit next to him on the futon. He stared at his hands, thinking of what he should say next._

"You'll be a fine mother."

_ The compliment caught her off guard. I felt sort of…good coming from him. She let a rare smile creep onto her face._

"Thank you, Hao."

ooOOooOOoo

"What did you just say?"

Anna turned her attention back to her fiancé's shocked face. "You heard me, Yoh. I'm pregnant."

Yoh's face drained of color, making him resemble Faust.

Lyserg shot an accusing finger at Hao and stood up, ready to attack him. His Mastema Dolkeem appeared around him, glowing in a fierce white light. "You did this to her the other night," he shrieked," you vile scum!"

"Actually, I did not," Hao replied with a wistful air. "Calm down before you hurt yourself."

"Then…," Manta piped up from between the greenette and Ren," Who's is it, Anna?"

"Are you all blind?" she growled," I would never have sex with someone that I wasn't engaged to."

"Me?" Yoh said incredulously," but we haven't, Anna. How is that possible?"

Anna arched an eyebrow,"How could you forget?"

Aside from Anna and Hao, who were staring at Yoh with expressions that made him seem like a total ding-dong, all blushed to a deep crimson.

"Wait…you don't mean the night before…I left?"

"I do," she said with a straight face.

Yoh's mouth fell open slightly.

"Say something," Hao said playfully beside him.

Yoh blinked before a smile slowly began to creep across his face. He didn't really need to speak when Anna saw this. She acknowledged this and let a small grin adorn her normally stoic features.

"Congrats, to the both of you," Ryu laughed good-naturedly.

"Same here," Tamao grinned. "Congratulations!"

Multiple of congratulations passed across the low wooden table. The room's atmosphere suddenly turned warm and general happy expressions fixed themselves on the faces of the inn's residents. Breakfast picked up again and conversations commenced until a single, soft string of laughter stood out amongst them all. It was a melodious peal that, even if you didn't know exactly who it came from, you could tell was a rare sound to be heard. Yoh blinked in surprise as he looked to the source of the sound and was elated to find out who the person was that emitted it.

He looked to his left to see Hao giggling like a little kid. The corners of his dark brown eyes were scrunched up in joy and his whole face seemed to glow with an unknown source of bliss. His thin shoulders shook with the soft chuckles that came out of his mouth; the very sound of his apparent merriment was contagious. Soon, everyone was laughing along with him, although they had no idea why. Even Anna, as indifferent as she normally appeared, seemed to be infected.

"Why are you acting so _normal?_" Lyserg, the only one in the room not caught up in Hao's laughter, pointed at his adversary with his index finger and said," You aren't supposed to be _laughing!_"

The person he spoke to continued to giggle for no apparent reason. His arms were wrapped around his chest as he tried and calm himself down, but it failed miserably. As soon as Lyserg had spoken, another string of chuckles erupted from his throat.

"I've had it with you traitorous people," he announced angrily," I'm leaving!"

Instantly, the room's tone darkened and Hao's laughter ceased. He glanced up with tear-clouded eyes at the greenette and spoke in a voice that matched his former joy. "Why would you do that? I thought you wanted things to go back to normal."

"My wishes don't constitute with you being here! I'm going home," he growled back angrily, turning on his heels and walking away quickly.

"Yoh, do you think we should stop him," Manta asked hesitantly," do you think he would tell the X-Laws that Hao is here?"

"Let him be," Hao said, the joy in his voice receding," He won't cause any trouble. He's not that stupid."

Yoh turned back to him," You heard his thoughts?"

Hao nodded," Even if he did, which he I'm fairly certain he won't, they wouldn't be able to do too much about it. The Patch will intervene long before it comes to a big conflict."

"Manta," Yoh began slowly," aren't your parents worried that they haven't seen you in months?"

"That was random," he laughed," but no. My dad doesn't really care. Mother doesn't notice half of the time. She's too busy taking care of Mannoko."

"Wait…Who's Mannoko?"

"My sister."

"Oh…sorry," he blushed, embarrassed," I forgot."

"No big deal."

"Okay," he sighed. Yoh turned back to face Hao," why were you laughing earlier?"

The ex-shaman let an even rarer, true smile play across his elegant features," I don't know why. I just felt like it, I guess."

Dumbstruck faces spread across the room accompanied by jaw-dropping stares.

"What?" he asked, his tone growing darker," Do you people have a problem with me laughing?"

"No, Hao, we don't," Yoh spoke for the majority of the inn's residents," It's just…unexpected. For them at least."

Hao shot Yoh a quick, nervous glare. Before the others could realize what he had done, it had disappeared from his face.

_ Sorry, Hao,_ Yoh thought sheepishly,_ I didn't mean to say that last part._

He nodded back almost imperceptivity before he averted his attention back to the other shaman. "How did you people like Hell?"

With the change in subject, one that they had at least a grasp of understanding in, their faces lit up.

"Definitely a strange place," Yoh admitted," But, I did get to make a new oversoul."

"You too?" Ren said, surprised," I thought I was the only one."

"No, I did too," Chocolove said.

"Me as well," the blue-haired Ainu spoke up.

"That was the half of the point," Hao said," The other half was getting out of Hell, which, judging by your presence here, you all did."

"I have a question," Horo-Horo began awkwardly," Was I supposed to meet an orange cat? I think he said his name was Matamune."

Hao's face went blank as he took in their thoughts.

"I did too," Ren said," he told me everything I wanted to know about you. Apparently, you're quite the mama's boy."

As Horo-Horo and Chocolove nodded along when Ren said this, Hao's body went rigid and his head drooped slightly. His long bangs obscured his face from everyone else, but Yoh could that his face was frozen in panic.

"Guys, please drop it," Yoh ordered them," Not now."

Just after he had uttered this, Lyserg came through the doorway and walked out through the main entrance. Hao's hand balled into a fist as he absorbed Lyserg's thoughts; they were not something he was expecting. Yoh picked up on this and poked him in the arm to try and find out what had happened so suddenly.

Hao grabbed Yoh by the collar of his shirt and pulled him to his feet toward the kitchen. The startled shaman complied and followed his twin across the room. Slamming the sliding door shut behind him, the elder let go of Yoh and stared at him in the eye.

"What was he thinking?"

"He knows what happened last night," he said quickly, his voice never rising above a shrill whisper. "I do not know how he knows, but he does and he plans to go public with it."

Yoh's heart skipped a beat and his chest tightened. He hadn't planned on anyone finding out about that unless Hao had told them himself. "How long do we have?"

"We do not," he said grimly.

Right on cue, or lack thereof, the pager strapped to Yoh's arm beeped cruelly. He looked at it, and as Hao had said he would, a text message screen popped up along with the sender's name: Lyserg's.

From the other room, Yoh could hear the beeping of the other oracle pagers as the shaman pressed the enter button and accepted the message. Startled gasps soon followed.

Hao moved away from his position in front of Yoh and lifted himself up on the small island in the center of the room and sat there with his back facing the door. Yoh turned slowly to watch him as he shoved his face into his hands and waited for the mayhem to ensue.

At once, multiple beeps on his pager screeched into his eardrums along with the phone ringing off it its hook. He ignored them all and walked to stand in front of his sitting twin.

"You know I didn't tell him," he said softly," and I wouldn't have told him anyway."

"Go answer the goddamn phone before it drives me up a wall," Hao said miserably, his voice a strained whisper.

"Alright," he replied back. Yoh walked off in the direction of the portable wall phone. He picked it up hesitantly and spoke," Hello, you've reached the En Inn. This is Yoh."

"So professional, aren't we," a warm female voice giggled on the other end.

"Wait…Is this Dr. Clancy?"

"Yes, it is. Good to see that you still remember me."

"Of course I do," he laughed back, giving Hao a sympathetic glance out of the corner of his eyes. "What are you calling for? Sorry, I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"No hard feelings. Your pager and phone must be as annoying as a decidedly angry ex-pyro we both know. Never mind, I'm calling because I need to talk to your sibling."

"I don't think that he's really in the best of moods."

"Oh, I know. I knew about his nervous breakdown last night without the help of your British friend long before this morning. The entire village is buzzing with the knowledge that they just found out. Fools. Congrats on helping him and your kid, by the way."

"Wha? Oh," he blushed," How did you know about that?"

"Shamanic powers are a godsend. Literally," she laughed," But, it's kind of important that I do talk to him now. So, pretty please?"

"Well," he sighed, looking at Hao inquisitively," I'll see what I can do."

"Good. I'll wait. Tell him that it concerns his future and that he'll be lost without help from his favorite leprechaun."

Hao dropped off of the island when he heard that echoing through Yoh's mind. He walked over to the phone and held out his hand expectantly. Yoh gave it to him out of surprise and was shoved out of the way as Hao sat on the floor, his knees pulling up to his chest as he spoke to the Irish woman.

"I am here," he said thickly, his somber voice tugging at Yoh's heartstrings. Hao listened to her as she spoke through the phone. His face went through a myriad of emotions as she talked. He didn't really say anything for a few minutes, only humming periodically to assure her that he understood. After a while, he handed the phone back to Yoh.

He hung it up and sat down beside Hao. "What did she want?"

"She will be here in a tomorrow," he sighed," She did not want to speak too much over the phone."

"She doesn't trust them?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding weakly.

"It's not the end of the world, you know. So what if people find out that you cried? Whoop-de-do."

"Your reputation did not just go down the drain."

"Maybe not, but your life isn't over."

He exhaled miserably, his head drooping enough so that his rested on his chest. Yoh casually wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled his closer. Hao deflated visibly and let Yoh do as he wished.

"You really need to learn the concept of personal boundaries."

Yoh laughed softly at his twin's failing efforts in preserving his masculine image.

"It is true," he said quietly," This 'hugging' thing cannot happen in mixed public."

"Fine, but you like being hugged. Admit it."

A faint groan was his only reply. Yoh grinned. "You need to talk to them."

"No."

"You can't keep them all in the dark about this. They live here too. Anna at least will understand without you having to explain it to her too much."

"She has known what has been happening to me for a while now."

"Really?"

"She is my mother reincarnated," he said softly.

He wasn't expecting something like that to come out of Hao's mouth. "Seriously?"

"Mmm."

"That's kind of cool. Does she know?"

"She was the one who told me."

"Wow. What did you say to that?"

"Nothing."

"Bologna."

"I did not say anything."

"Yeah right."

"I...cried."

Yoh's mouth fell open again. "You're willingly admitting that? To me?"

"Do not push your luck," Hao growled," Which, I might add, is beginning to run thin. Very thin."

"Fine, fine," he assured quickly," but you're avoiding the subject. I'll help you talk to them, if you want."

"I _do not _want to talk to them," the ex-shaman said with finality. He arrogantly glanced away from his twin, not wanting to indulge any firther in the concept. "They can leave me alone."

"Which you don't really want to happen."

"Since when are you Hao?"

"Technically, I've always been Hao. Half of Hao, to be precise."

"You are such an annoying _bastard_," he sighed angrily," Did you know _that?"_

"At times."

Hao let out a scream of frustration. It wasn't very loud, but Yoh ended up clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and please listen to me for a minute," Yoh pleaded softly, moving to sit in front of his frustrated twin. Hao glared back with equally annoyed chocolate brown eyes. "You have to face the music and talk to them. As _unbearable _as it may seem, you can't avoid them all forever. I'll help you if you want me to, but you have stand in front of them and at least admit that it happened. They deserve a good explanation after putting up with you for so long. We _all_ put in a huge effort to make you happy again and they need to find out what happened from the source. I'm not asking you to spill your heart out in front of them; just admit it and I'll take it from there. Does that sound fair enough to you?"

Hao's dark eyes switched from unmasked anger back to the verge of tears. He gripped Yoh's hand with his own and pulled it away from his face. "Fine, but if I get…_emotional_," he ground out reluctantly between clenched teeth," I am leaving."

"Deal," Yoh smiled. He stood up and lifted Hao to his feet after taking hold of his hand. Yoh lead the two of them over to the door. "You ready?"

"Never," he sighed miserably.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will work out."

Hao grudgingly _huffed _and walked in uneasily after Yoh when he pulled the door open. He froze to a standstill as everyone in the room turned their surprised gazes to him.

Yoh grabbed him gently by the arm and led him back to his seat by Anna. She nodded at up at him and gestured for him to sit down. Hao complied stiffly, crossing his legs and staring at the table. No one spoke for a moment or two.

"Hao," Anna said with an air that allowed no argument, "Say something, if you would be so kind as to enlighten them."

He shot her a quick, worried glance. "Fine," he sighed shakily," The message you all received is correct."

The room fell into silence again for long after Hao stopped talking. His hands fidgeted, only visible under the table to Yoh and Manta, and he bowed his head, refusing to meet any of the room's occupant's eyes. Their shocked thoughts entered his mind like hot knives through butter; each one painfully stabbing at him. They hurt, and he shuddered convulsively.

Yoh began to speak for him when he assumed that Hao wouldn't say anything more. "Like the three of you," he said, motioning to Horo-Horo, Chocolove, and Ren," I also met Matamune in Hell. For those who have absolutely no idea who I'm talking about, Matamune was Hao's companion a thousand years ago. He told me everything about---."

"What you do need to know," Hao spoke up, surprising everyone in the room," should be said by me, rather than coming from a second-hand source." He began, hesitantly at first, and told the story of his past for all to hear. Neither Yoh nor any of the other people in the room interrupted him with questions as he relived his old memories, his life. Hao's solemn monologue lasted for quite some time, his velvet voice drawing the undivided attention of everyone like flies to a light bulb, regardless of whether or not they had heard this tale before.

Unlike what Matamune was able to convey, Hao's narrative on his own past was eerie to say the least. He told it as if it were a double-edged fairy tale; the memories that he reminisced both painful and relieving for him to say at the same time. The very voice he spoke with, a mixture of thick emotion as he remembered a particularly horrid experience and detached recitation pulled and tugged at their hearts.

They, Yoh, Anna, Manta, Ryu, Faust, Eliza, Ren, Horo-Horo, Chocolove, and Tamao, felt as he felt. Shocked to realize that Hao's personality went much deeper than they had originally thought pushed at the boundaries of what they thought were irrefutable facts. To learn that Hao, astoundingly, had loved his own mother and still was haunted to this day by her brutal death, was something that they couldn't fathom. To learn that Hao was able, and had to a degree that they could never have imagined, to feel everyday emotions like they themselves experienced challenged everything that they had believed about him. It was like learning on Christmas that Santa Claus wasn't real. It just didn't sound believable to their judgmental minds, but it was true. It had to be.

Almost as astonishing to them was actually being able to watch the real Hao before them as he experienced these emotions. Before they were convinced otherwise, they had taken the ex-shaman as a cold-hearted monster incapable of expressing even mundane feelings. The man himself telling them that he had used them before was one thing; actually having Hao express them before their very eyes was another matter entirely. His features would tighten in pain when he spoke of his days afflicted with the reishi 'episodes', his voice became shriller when he remembered all of those who had hurt him, and even when he recounted the death of his mother and abandonment by everyone who had remotely loved him, his throat would constrict in grief.

An insurmountable time had passed since the great onmyôji had first spoken up. It seemed like an eternity to Yoh, but as he glanced at the wall clock over the door he found that only an hour had gone by. His twin was drawing to a close of reliving every grueling detail of his thousand years of life and death and he could feel that the man beside him was struggling to keep his composure. He stopped speaking suddenly as a strangled sob leaked out of his mouth. Without anyone else seeing, he took Hao's twitching right hand in his left and gripped it tightly. Almost immediately, his twin's hand squeezed back with equal pressure.

"Last night, I got Hao to finally trust me," Yoh put simply for him," and that's all that really happened. So, I'm guessing that by him telling you guys everything, he trusts you as well."

The other occupants of the room watched in stunned disbelief as Yoh wrapped his arms around Hao in hug. He stiffened even further than he already was.

"I thought I told you," he hissed angrily in an undertone to Yoh," _not_ to hug me in public."

Yoh completely ignored him, pretending that he hadn't even heard the low hiss. He happily called out 'group hug!' If one outside of this culture hadn't known the twins, the action wouldn't have caused any suspicion. In truth, Japanese normally did not normally display public affection such as this. But, this wasn't a normal action and it wasn't under normal circumstances.

After a second or two of hesitation, the other shaman in the room (minus Anna) launched themselves at the intertwined identical pair. Hao's eyes widened as he was surrounded on all sides by warm arms of various different people that he barely knew. He started to wiggle beneath them and tried to get away, but his actions were only made futile as the arms suddenly tightened around him.

"_Gah!_" he shrieked loudly," Let me go!"

"Nope," giggled his twin. A few seconds later, Yoh gasped in surprise as the ex-shaman went completely limp. His twin felt like a wet noodle as he slid out from between his arms. The strange, flexible maneuver backfired when the pile of confused shaman fell over on the escaping onmyôji. The air was knocked out of his squished lungs in a loud exhale as he was pinned to the bamboo flooring.

"Get…off," he managed to gasp.

"Sorry, Hao," Yoh apologized, shoving whoever was on top of him away to give his brother some room. He looked down at the flustered teen below him and smiled. Hao glared angrily at those around him before noticing that their expressions were of similar nature to his twin's mug.

The thoughts flying through the ancient's head were not…incriminating in the least. It puzzled him to no end that these people, the very ones who had tried to kill him nearly two months ago, did not _hate _him. A strangely warm sensation began to worm its way into his healing heart, claiming a tight hold to it. He didn't want it there and yet, at the same time, he did; so different from what he had been like less than twenty-four hours ago that it was rather confusing, almost downright shocking, for him to experience.

Before he knew what was happening to himself, a slight blush crept to his cheeks. It wasn't out of pure embarrassment; he certainly was humiliated, but the matter at hand did not entirely concern solely that. Hao's flushed face could have been described as being caused by the feeling of one being 'flattered.' But of course, he would never admit that.

* * *

Well, how else is Hana going to get born? I'm not a big fan of teenage pregnancy, but Hana is a character created by Takei and he eventually does take part in the last volume...of the Kang Zeng Bang.

I don't have too much else to say about this chapter other than that the next won't be up for a while. Please, read and review! they make me want to work faster!

~SemperMemor


	11. The Asakura Family Reunion

Chapter Eleven

The Asakura Family Reunion

A/N:

First of all, I ask for forgiveness from my beta readers for not having heard from me in months. Secondly, I apologize to my readers for the long hiatus I unintentionally went on. Amidst a long list of problems issued to me by life (Namely starting my senior year, searching and applying for colleges, dealing with a few personal losses, and helping to solve several major problems within my school), I reflected back upon the previous chapters I've written and winced internally. I think my writing style has improved from the beginning of this fanfiction, in my opinion, and I've learned from all of the little experiments I used on this Guinea Pig of a story. I fell into a kind of lull about continuing with it based on the fact that I've been ashamed of the OOC and careless grammar mistakes. Since then, I've taken the time I needed to convince myself that this story needed a decent ending. But before I get PM's asking me so, this isn't the last chapter. I've got *at least* three more coming, which have yet to be written.

The second problem I ran into in regards to my hiatus was the lack of inspiration. Writer's block left me without a way to link the last chapter I wrote to what lies at the end of the fic. After going through a few of the PM's from reviewers, I came up with this. Better late than never, I guess.

I switched up the second part of this chapter for the Hao fangirls (because we rock), although it is not much of a, dare I say it, 'naked' scene. Despite this, it actually does have significance. :)

Again, I am sorry for the ridiculously long wait. It was meant to come out around the same time of Mankin-Trad's release of the last Kang Zeng Bang chapter. Long live the Shaman King…or, rather, be happily surrounded by cats and/or his mother in the afterlife.

I do not own _Shaman King, _any song by Nickelback, or orange knowledge.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Hao groaned inwardly.

Why, _oh why_, must his descendants be such idiots? They were blessed with his undeniably good genes of course but where did this ignorant lack of common sense and prose come from? His twin showed brief flashes of true intellect from time to time, but that wasn't doing too much for him at the present moment. It seemed to the ancient ex-shaman that his other half was sensually caressing an orange. Such barbaric actions were not becoming of one identical to the most feared shamanic being of all time.

Hao was watching his younger twin's rather bizarre behavior while an extremely unattractive grimace crept onto his elegant features. The headphoned shaman leaned on the table, staring at a navel orange with an expression belying love amidst a vocalization that had something to do with 'orange yum yum.' The behavior itself was not anything that the onmyôji had ever seen in another before. Hao was staring at his sibling from the other side of the table in fascinated disgust. It was like when humans watched another of their species being eaten alive. He just could not look away.

What made the situation all the more troubling was that Yoh was expecting a kid in the near future. Hao shouldn't have cared about the bastard child due to its father's genetic sequence. It would be getting what it deserved; doomed to total stupidity for being conceived from his twin. But that was just the beginning of the end for the spawn. What if it grew up with this buffoon? It would certainly take on a few of his younger brother's mannerisms if it were to be around him long enough. Take this violation of a perfectly good orange for example.

But if the child's other parent were taken into consideration, it might, just _might_, have a fighting chance against its father's genes. Its mother was an interesting person to behold. She could hold her own against even him at his prime and still look beautiful doing so, in Hao's opinion of course. Anna was also one of the sharpest women he had ever had the pleasure of coming across, which no doubt came from his mother's reincarnated soul. He wasn't sexist by any means, but the general majority of the females he knew were either shamanically weak or too blind to realize their own stupidity.

That wasn't to be said that _his _own genes were to be overshadowed. Hao's blessed intellectual prowess could have merely skipped one of the twins, accounting for Yoh's thought processes, and could emerge in the next generation. It was plausible, however slim, but it could be true.

The child would be powerful, of that there was no doubt in Hao's mind. If all went well and sound, then the potent combination of Anna and Yoh's genetics (and Hao's as well) would produce an infant with enormous shamanic potential. Excluding his original persona and current body, the spawn, in theory, should be the one with the greatest capacity for furiyoku control and manipulation within the Asakura line, if not the entirety of the dwindling shaman population. For all intents and purposes, this child should not be overshadowed.

It was for the sake of Anna's unborn infant and for the preservation of the Asakura genes that Hao decided to interfere with his twin's primitive behavior. _Not _for Yoh. He did not realize how good he had it in Hao's mind. So until he did, Hao would be taking over in his education of correct mannerisms.

"Yoh," he called across the low wooden table.

"…Funga fu fu," absently replied the smitten teenager. He continued to lovingly roll the orange fruit on the table as if nothing had happened.

The elder's dark brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "Stop touching that orange or eat it," he commanded coldly. "You are putting my genes to shame."

Yoh briefly glanced at his brother for the minutest of seconds before returning his gaze to the round citrus. "It's too perfect to eat. I can't," he shook his head.

"I begyour pardon?" Hao demanded, baffled.

"I can't eat this orange," the younger said once again. "It's got a soul. If I ate something so alive and delicious, then I would feel like a murderer."

Hao thought that a few of his precious IQ points were knocked off by that statement. Maybe this was how Yoh defeated his opponents: loss by death of sufficient brain cells. Shaking that possibility off, the ex-shaman addressed the orange-loving teenager. "Do you realize how idiotic that statement just sounded?"

"It's the truth, Hao," Yoh insisted.

"What about the other oranges you've eaten in the past? Do they not count or is your allegation void?"

"They were not as big as this one."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Yoh smiled and began to show off his knowledge of the fruit. "The larger the orange, the better the taste. Especially with Navel oranges. This is by far the largest one I have come across. It would be too mean to just eat it."

Hao arched an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me that those that are not 'perfectly large' are considered edible by your standards?"

"Yep."

The longhaired twin forced himself to stifle a snicker out of irony. How was that logic any different from killing humans? Maybe they were more alike than he had originally thought.

"Be that as it may, Yoh," he said nonchalantly. "Eat that orange or leave it alone."

A confused glance met his command. "Why? I'm not hurting the orange."

"Do you know what the word 'etiquette' means?"

"Of course I do," Yoh answered quickly. "But I don't see the need to stop when I'm not offending anyone."

Hao could have growled at the ignorant teen. "You don't see the big picture, do you?"

"Hmm?"

"_I_ am offended at your childish behavior," he said, narrowing his eyes once again. "And I want you to stop violating that perfectly edible orange before I come over there and shove it down your throat."

"No, thanks," Yoh mumbled. He refused to give up, though. The young shaman ignored his moody brother instead, rolling the amazingly round fruit under his hand and murmuring 'funga fu fu.'

Hao had had enough of this mediocre monstrosity. He stood up and walked around the table with purpose and grabbed the orange with a swift, deft movement. "If you do not even _see_ your mistake, then I do not consider you fit to be rewarded with something like this," the ex-shaman sentenced icily. Before he could attempt to force the massive fruit down his sibling's throat, an even better idea came to his devious mind.

Yoh had gone into a state of semi-shock. He stared at his empty hand with a mixture of confusion and astonishment. Nobody had _ever _taken an orange right out of his hand and gotten away with it. When the teen looked up to protest to his thief of a twin, his mouth fell open in terror. He couldn't find his voice to speak up against the horrific scene.

Hao was peeling off the skin of his beloved orange! The blasphemous act was accompanied by a triumphant smirk on the elder's attractive face, the beginnings of a laugh promising to erupt from his throat. Before Yoh could find his feet or voice, the man stuffed a large wedge of the fleshy innards of the aromatic fruit into his mouth and began to chew it.

A fiercely protective side of Yoh emerged from the back of his mind. He didn't know where it came from, but it felt like a strange form of a paternal desire to attack the ancient onmyôji. His voice came back to him along with the renewed desire to fight. "Not my precious orange!" he shrieked and launched himself off the cushion.

Before Hao could discern exactly what had happened to him, he was lying on his back on the bamboo flooring with the wind knocked out of him. He looked up to see Yoh standing over him with the leftover orange held tightly to his chest and an uncharacteristically angry frown on his childish face.

"What are you two buffoons doing?"

Yoh and Hao instantly turned toward the direction of the cold, accusing voice out of annoyance. Anna stood in the middle of the shoji doorway between the kitchen and the living room, her pale hands on her hips. Her straw-colored eyes glared poisonous daggers at them.

Hao smiled. If it were not for the small arrogant hint of a smirk in it, one could have believed that he was actually trying to be pleasant. From his position on the floor, he said," I'm teaching your betrothed how to seduce a woman. He's getting an -A."

The darkening of her expression told him that his attempt at humor wasn't appreciated. Funny, he thought he could at least squeeze a twitch out of her.

The ex-shaman sighed. "Fine. He's acting like a child and I thought that he could use some...guidance." He accentuated the last word with a cunning smirk.

"He stole and _ate _my orange right out of my hand!" Yoh exclaimed wildly to Anna.

She frowned in mild disgust at her fiancé's childish behavior. "I don't care about your oranges. Why aren't you two getting the house ready for tonight?"

A blank came over both of the twin's faces.

"Don't tell me you've _already_ forgotten?" she growled. "I told you just last week that the rest of the Asakura's were coming today."

"So that…we can tell them…about the baby," Yoh trailed off as he remembered with a pang of dread.

"Why so sullen?" Hao asked from the floor before him. "I thought that you wanted this?"

"Yeah…I do."

Anna groaned under her breath. "We forgot to mention something to them. These situations of ill-inform are becoming _far_ too common nowadays."

Hao caught the faint sense of forebode in her monotonous voice. His eyebrows furrowed in agitation when he put two and two together. He sat up into a cross-legged position to see his future sister-in-law better. "They don't know that I'm alive?" he all but hissed. "How could they _not_ know?"

"We told them that you had died while you were recovering in the hospital so that they wouldn't try to interfere with your sentencing," Yoh provided.

"I'm _flattered_."

"Even if they didn't know then," Anna began," they certainly know now. The family doesn't have an Oracle Pager, but the compound must have been plagued by outrageous phone calls by now.

"It's odd that they haven't decided to stop by sooner and demand an explanation," Hao commented dryly. His memory suddenly jogged from a similar event from last week and he added, "Has my doctor called back yet? I haven't heard from her after she failed to drop by our accommodations."

"No, and frankly, I don't care," Anna snapped. "Start cleaning this place up before the rest of the family gets here."

"What time are they coming?" Yoh asked fearfully.

The blond itako turned around and walked out of the room. "At noon. Ryu and Tamao are cooking, so that leaves the two of you to make the inn spotless."

"In twohours?" Yoh balked. "What about Horo-Horo, Ren, Manta, Faust, and Chocolove? They can help!"

Hao could have shoved his face into the palm of his hand out of sheer embarrassment of his twin. "They left this morning to stay at your midget's abode for the night out of respect. Something you should think about learning in the near future."

"I expect everything to be clean," Anna called from the kitchen.

Yoh watched as Hao furrowed his elegant eyebrows and stood up with a grace he had rarely seen in any other. He stalked off in the direction of the supply closet, mumbling some incoherent remark about dignity.

ooOOooOOoo

A clock chimed throughout the house, signifying noon. Hao's eyelids fluttered open against his will. He stared off in space, too comfortable in the heated water of the onsen to actually move. His arms were reclined to either side of him as he sat against the edge of the shot spring. The hot, steaming black stones lining the water radiated a heat that seeped deep into his stiff muscles. As much as he wanted to stay here, blissfully content in near submergence, he knew he had to move. With a slight groan, he forced himself to get out of the hot bath. His trudging exit created a significantly loud splash across the silent area. The tepid atmosphere inside the bathhouse was muggy, but not nearly as calming as the water. His long mahogany hair profusely streamed with it as he slowly made his way to the other side of the room and picked up one of the folded white towels. He wrapped one around himself and another for his hair before he changed direction toward the sink. The temporary garment was faintly warm, having been removed from the dryer in the not-so-distant past. Its added comfort of the towel wrapped around his waist soothed his aching body.

He turned the right knob before cupping his hands together under the running faucet and leaning forward to splash it onto his face. The drastic change in skin temperature made him shiver involuntary, but it served its purpose. He instantly felt his mind clear itself of the haze it had recently been plagued by. Blindly, he reached out with his right hand for a dry towel. His fingers brushed against the soft cotton fabric hanging from the rack after a moment or two of groping. He bought it to his face and held it there to collect the wet droplets falling from his skin.

The ex-shaman sighed wearily as he brought the cloth away. Hao glanced up into the mirror above the sink. It was fogged over from the humidity of the bath he had just taken. He stared at it in mild disdain. Mirrors, contrary to popular belief, weren't one of his favorite objects. Vain though he was at times, he did not generally take untold pleasure in marveling over his own reflection. It occurred to him, then, that he hadn't actually looked at himself for quite some time; pre-hospitalization, to be exact.

Curious, but not overly so, Hao took the face cloth to the mirror and gently wiped the glass a few times to remove the accumulated moisture. When he removed his hand from the mirror, he blinked at the calculating, dark eyes staring back at him over grey-rimmed eyelids. Gone was the cold, uncaring and sometimes lifeless aspect to them. But, they weren't entirely welcoming. The familiar orbs watched his every move with an unusual neutral precision. When he glanced at his reflection's thin, faint scar running down the middle of his forehead, they followed too.

After he had ascertained that he had, in fact, gotten himself scarred, Hao leaned forward to get a better look at himself. Like his doctor had predicted he would, he had gained back the weight he had lost. His cheekbones weren't as predominant as they had been.

Just before he was about to turn around, something nearly insignificant caught his eye. His skin didn't look quite right. The color and texture of the flesh was perfectly normal. It was barely noticeable at all, which was why he had almost passed it off. But when you've lived with complete awareness from birth (not to mention being in the company of your identical twin and therefore subjected to seeing yourself when he walked past you), you come to recognize the slightest imperfection to your body. The odd instinct of something being off suddenly disappeared when he found nothing wrong. Try as he might, he couldn't place exactly what it was.

Hao gave up his search for a plausible explanation a minute later with a dissatisfied huff. He got his unwilling feet to move back in the direction of the door flap. His hand deftly pushed the curtain aside, allowing himself to enter into the changing room. No one was there, not that he had been expecting anyone. A pair of freshly washed and dried clothes awaited his arrival on the lone bench to the far left side. Hao dried himself off, tossed the drenched towel into the basket, and got dressed with time to spare.

He sat down on the wooden bench and began the tedious task of removing the water from his hair. Before, when he had control over the Spirit of Fire, he could have done this in one minute flat. Now that he lacked this unexpected luxury, the ex-shaman was forced to do so like everyone else did. Electrical hair-dryers were blasphemous, so manual labor was the only present option. The effort and patience it took him almost made him think it was time for a haircut, but he quickly cast that thought out the metaphorical window. Such a motion would make him seem more like his younger twin. That wasn't going to happen as long as he had a say in things, which, as of late, wasn't very often.

Eventually, and with a great deal of brushing, his long locks were sufficiently dried. Hao disposed of the second towel in the same way he had the first on his way out toward the door. Another mirror, this time a floor-length variety, made him pause momentarily. His expression went blank as he stared at himself. The relatively short teenage male staring back at him looked like any normal teen. His dark denim jeans, socks, and white button-up shirt were commonplace. It was hard to believe, for him anyway, that a millennium-old onmyôji resided within that boy. The only thing giving away that fact was his chocolate-brown eyes. They displayed a sort of wisdom one seventeen-year old individual could not possibly possess within their intelligent depths.

Again, that same bizarre aspect to his skin puzzled him. _It was almost as if I were…, _he thought, trailing off. Hao gently shook his head, his long hair following the movement like a graceful, dark veil. He left through the shoji door without an inkling as to what might be wrong with him if, in actuality, something were wrong with him.

Hao took his time in making his way toward the front of the inn. There really was no rush, seeing as he hadn't been brutally informed that his ignorant descendants had arrived at the stroke of noon. Absently, he let his feet guide him to where he eventually needed to end up. The chores were done, his future sister-in-law sufficiently satisfied with the house, no one was yelling at him, the place was quiet, and he was clean. It was, he dwelled bittersweetly in the mindset of his younger twin, the simple things in life had the capacity to generate a rare moment of peace.

The ex-shaman gently pushed open the door of the dining room when he came to stand before it. He entered, and, finding no one, moved to sit down at the head of the low table on a soft cushion. For the moment, he didn't really care where the rest of the household resided. His vision blurred slightly while he stared off into space in a sort of daydream. A dreadfully strong feeling of exhaustion that had been lurking in the back of his mind for the past week slowly began to claim his consciousness. Like strong human sleeping-aid drugs, it was hard to ignore when it got going. He hadn't paid much mind to it earlier, brushing it off with a cup of tea or going to bed early. There wasn't too much he could do to stop it now, truthfully. Instead of fighting the surmounting sense of fatigue, he submitted himself to it and rested his head in his folded arms on the long wooden table. Yawning hugely, he let himself drift off into delightful unconsciousness.

After what felt like only seconds later, the loud ringing of the doorbell interrupted his peaceful slumber. His eyes cracked open in aggravation at having been so rudely woken from such a dead sleep. With a light groan, he lifted his head to rest his chin on the top of his right arm and tried to successfully bring his senses back together. _Someone will answer it_, he thought half-heartedly. _No need to get up._

Even when twenty or so seconds passed and the doorbell rang again, no footsteps raced down the hall to answer it. He heard muffled voices argue with each other outside the house mere meters away. Still, when the bell echoed around the house again, nothing happened.

_Odd_, he thought. _Yoh probably would have been castrated if Anna knew he hadn't promptly gotten to it. _

When the blasted sound reverberated across the house again, it's annoying ring began to poke at the edge of Hao's patience. He didn't want to get up and answer the damn thing, especially when he knew who would be there waiting. Absently, his weary eyes roved to the entranceway. He could see the silhouettes clearly illumined by sun behind it. Two tall figures and two significantly shorter stood there. The tall female, his biological mother no doubt, shifted from foot to foot; the three others were as stiff in their postures as unshakable mountains. The petite man, his grandfather, reached up his gnarled wooden cane and pushed the doorbell. It caused the house to emit a mockingly annoying blast of sound, again.

Fed up with the man's impatience, Hao forced himself to stand from his comfortable and warm position on the cushion. He made his legs move in the direction of the door while rubbing his eyes and yawning. Reaching the entranceway, he lightly scaled down the small step onto the stone floor. Just as his midget of a grandfather reached up his cane to press the button once more, Hao grabbed the handle of the door and slid it open none too happily. A slight frown spread across his face as he took in the sight of his descendants.

Kino, although blind, moved forward with the assurance of one who could actually see, motioning for Hao to move. "Out of my way, boy."

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly at her bravery. "Boy?" he echoed in puzzlement before turning his expression into a scowl. "I'm not a child."

She paid his comment no mind and finally moved past him with a rough shove to the shin. The elderly itako retreated into the house behind him without another word.

"Older our ages combined though you are," Yohmei continued in her place, looking up at him with a disapproving stare," you are still a child."

Hao's dark brown eyes narrowed down at his grandfather. "Who are you to judge that?"

He didn't seem to hear onmyôji's rebuttal, most likely not caring. The elderly shaman only shook his head and followed after his wife. Mikihisa followed suit, not even acknowledging his son's presence. Hao didn't really mind that; it was better than getting yelled at and attacked like the last time they had faced each other.

Keiko's shuffling brought Hao's attention back from the two disappearing men. She looked down at him with a curiously warm expression. The slight fear in her eyes was still there, just as it had been the night she had brought him back into this world. For a brief instant, the fury within him swelled as he thought just how weak _his_ descendant was by showing that particular emotion. Toward her firstborn son, no less. He bristled.

"Hello," Keiko greeted warmly.

Hao's eyes narrowed at her outward display of affection. He turned his back on her and entered the house without a word.

****

Inside the old inn, the kitchen was bustling with activity. Though, by the lack of noise emanating from the room, you wouldn't have known that it was so. Such a feat, according to the head-phone adorned shaman leading the operations, was accomplished after learning what his fiancé did and did not tolerate during her infrequent midday naps. He had no idea if she was still sleeping at the present moment, but it wouldn't really matter either way unless they made a raucous. Then, if they woke her up with that, Hao's old familiars would get involved. Decided that they wanted to avoid that end at all costs, they worked quietly.

Garbed in colored aprons, the three shamans within went about their businesses in ordered chaos. On the far right of the kitchen, Ryu was quickly putting the finishing touches on a pan of sautéing mushrooms and chicken. Tamao was lovingly bent over her dessert masterpieces before gently placing them into the fridge to cool. Between them, Yoh was taking out the china from the cabinets and placing them on the island behind him. As soon as they were before him, ready to be taken out of the kitchen, he began to put the vast array of food that they had painstakingly prepared onto the decorative serving platters.

The kitchen door opened and closed with a hard snap behind them. Yoh glanced back for a brief moment to discern that Hao had entered before going back to work.

"Can you help me with this?" the younger twin asked, looking at his brother. "They'll be here any minute."

Hao walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. The ex-shaman reached in toward the back and took out the tea he had made earlier that morning. "They're already here," he said bitterly, shutting the door a bit too hard. The fridge rattled loudly.

Yoh carefully watched as his elder twin took a glass from the cabinet, slammed it on the counter, and poured himself the tea. His expression was cold, foreboding almost.

"You said they were here?" Yoh asked carefully.

Hao flashed him an angry glare. "Did I not already say that?" he hissed, putting away the pitcher of tea with another slammed door. "And no, I will not help you."

Tamao and Ryu quickly finished what they were doing, the latter taking his two large plates of food, and left to give them some room.

Almost as soon as they were gone, Yoh turned around and faced his twin. "What happened?"

"Nothing of importance," Hao mumbled. He sat down with a huff at the small table and took a swig of the tea.

"It certainly doesn't sound like nothing," Yoh countered, walking toward him. "What did they say to you?"

He eyed the approaching shaman coldly before taking another drink and setting it down. "I told you that it didn't matter."

"It will matter when you get into a fight."

"They piss me off," Hao relinquished, exasperated. "They always have. Butt out of my personal issues."

Yoh backed off, returning to the plates of food. "Fine, fine." As an afterthought, he asked," Is Anna up?"

"She's at the table," Hao said dryly, standing up from the chair. "The doorbell woke her up."

"Doorbell? I didn't hear it."

"Of course you didn't," the ex-shaman muttered under his breath.

Yoh glanced to his left as Hao put his glass in the sink. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Do you want help with these plates or not?"

"Yeah," Yoh said, brightening at his twin's abrupt change in temperament. "Sure, please."

Hao took two of them in arm and began to walk gracefully toward the door. The added weight didn't seem to hamper him. Yoh took the other two and followed suit. His twin pushed the door open with his elbow, while he closed it with his heel.

The remaining members of the Asakura family were all seated around the low table. Yoh's grandfather sat at the far end beside his grandmother. Keiko was next to her father and beside her husband. Anna looked up at the other side and motioned for him to take the remaining head of the table. Technically, it was supposed to be Hao's spot. He was the founder of the family and, spiritually speaking, was the oldest person here.

Hao, however, ignored the spot altogether and placed the large plates of food in their respective spots. He sat directly across from Anna, consciously leaving a space between himself and his biological father. Yoh shrugged inwardly and sat at the head.

An awkward silence filled the crowded room.

Keeping that silence, Yohmei began to gather food onto his plate as if nothing were wrong.

"Let's eat," Yoh finally said in a slight sigh. It sounded almost like a question, but no one commented upon it. He waited for everyone to slowly gather their own food before doing so himself. Then, he began to eat.

For some time, the only sounds discernable were the soft tapping of chopsticks as they picked up food and near-silent chewing. It was as awkward now as it had been before the start of the meal, if not more.

What was he to say? Well, what _could_ he say? He doubted if his old-fashioned family knew anything of modern day sports, not that he did. Even the soft rock lyrics of Soul Bob, despite what he may want to believe, would seem out of place here. Striking up a conversation of weather would seem like an excuse to not talk about what he knew what was on everyone's minds. Maybe it would be easiest to just explain Hao's predicament. Yet, somehow, he didn't think that that approach would be pleasant. Something subtle---

Yohmei seemed to be in the same mindset, for he beat him to it. Glancing at the long-haired twin, the elderly shaman asked," What are your plans for the future, Hao?"

_So much for subtlety_, Yoh thought bitterly.

Hao took his own sweet time in answering. Despite the six pairs of eyes locked onto his face, the pressure didn't seem to move him. He wouldn't be rushed for a response, if he would so choose to give one at all. After swallowing whatever he had been eating, he reached for the cup of tea he had and sipped. He placed it back down and picked up his chopsticks again, unperturbed.

"Why should I tell you?" the ancient onmyôji coolly. His tone betrayed the barest hint of anger, only so much that it could have been passed off.

Replying in an identical tone, Yohmei said," I'm only curious, I suppose."

With that, the already palpable tension in the room strengthened to the likeness of a sharp, brittle wooden toothpick.

"Why should I tell you my plans?" the elder twin repeated, the anger in his voice rising a notch. "I was under the impression that you wanted nothing more to do with me after you made the futile decision to try to murder me the night of my birth. You," Hao said blankly, pointing a chopstick at Mikihisa," I can understand why you would. You want revenge for the burned flesh beneath that mask and the humiliation that came with it. But not you," Pointing the same wooden stick at his diminutive grandfather, he said," You would have done away with me by now if you still wanted to kill me."

Yohmei was silent for a moment. Yoh knew he was still angry with himself for the events of fifteen years ago, but the wizened shaman didn't show it when he finally spoke. "That may be so now, but not the night you were born again. It was our duty as Asakuras to make sure that you would not walk this earth for another five hundred years."

"So? Despite your upbringing and the hatred that was insinuated in you for me, you hesitated in killing your own grandson. You felt and still feel _guilty_. But even that didn't stop you to raise him," the ex-shaman spat bitterly, thrusting the chopstick in Yoh's direction," for the sole purpose to stop me from obtaining the Great Spirits so that _you_ didn't have to."

The delicate china rattled as a strong pair of fists was slammed onto the table. Keiko twitched, but remained still otherwise. "We had to!" the balding old man yelled back. His expression was a contortion of raw emotion. "You would have killed all of us and the humans! We had to stop you before you destroyed everything we held dear!"

"By sacrificing him for the greater good?" Hao hissed. "You were reluctant to kill _me_, the object of your loathing, but you were just peachy with sending him off to the Shaman Fight knowing that he could very well die by my hands. Too messy of a subject for you to deal with, grandfather?"

"How dare you," the Asakura patriarch growled. Tiny leaf sprites began to hover behind him, floating around in frantic excitement. "How dare you insult me and my family, you _monster_."

Hao openly glared at Yohmei with a murderous glint in his seething dark eyes. He looked to Yoh as if he almost wanted the old shaman to attack him. Hao had no way of defending himself against the little oversouls despite their small size. It would only take one. "If they're your 'dear' _family_," the long-haired ex-shaman mocked," why didn't you trust him to do stop me in a way that wouldn't result in my death? Too clean for your liking?"

"And how could you possibly know about trust?"

If looks could kill, Yoh remarked sullenly, his grandfather wouldn't still be standing. His twin probably would have attacked the elderly shaman if he had not bitterly excused himself. Hao abruptly stood up and stalked out of the dining room without another word.

****

A loud crash reverberated throughout the old inn, followed by the sound of something splintering. Yoh head jerked up from the soapy dishes at the noise, instantly alert. The same thing happened again a moment later, much louder and accompanied by a scream of rage. He felt the house shake as something heavy crashed to the floor on the second level of the house.

Yoh quickly turned off the sink, dried his hands, and threw the apron he wore onto the counter. He hastily made his way out of the kitchen and ran down the hallway in the direction of the stairs. No one followed him, not that he was expecting anyone to after the disaster of a reunion.

Upstairs, or at least the far end of it anyway, was a mess. Yoh could only see the outside of Hao's room at the moment, but what he was so far made him dread the interior. The previously unhinged shoji door was lying on the ground, broken in half. A wooden chair was on top of it, also cracked. A few white feathers covered the chair. Another enraged scream later saw a lamp flung out the open doorway and shatter against the opposite wall.

Yoh managed to dash inside without being hit by a random flying object, although it was a close call. A dresser drawer missed him by a few feet. Hao was reaching for the second. Around him, the room was in shambled. The feather-padded futon was shredded into pieces, allowing its contents to be strewn across the floor, air, and furniture, or what remained of it. Hao's bookcase had toppled over, its multitude of books thrown in different directions. The dresser drawers had been pulled out and the two chairs in the small alcove on the far left side were missing. He had no idea where the second one was.

He watched in astonishment as Hao picked up the wooden drawer and hefted it into the wall behind him as if it weighted nothing. The resulting crash shook the floor and left a large, cracked hole in the wall. The ex-shaman proceeded to do the same thing with the last drawer, causing the hole to become enlarged and dust to escape into the feather-laden air.

Yoh could barely believe his eyes. His usually passive twin hadn't been prone to any type of violence as of late. "What's gotten into you?" Yoh demanded carefully.

His question fell on deaf ears. It was like Hao didn't even know that Yoh was in the room at all. With another cry of fury, the ancient onmyôji unsuccessfully tried to pull the heavy wooden dresser to who knew where. It barely budged an inch. He shrieked in outrage when he couldn't move it after another hard pull.

He was having a fit, just like a little kid who couldn't get his way. Only, Hao wasn't trying to get anything. If the events of lunch were anything to go by, which he surmised was indeed the reason, he had to think that he was overly frustrated or even upset at what Yohemi had accused him. He probably didn't know how to deal with emotions in any other way than bottling them up or resorting to violence. When Yoh really thought about it, he came to the conclusion that Hao really was a child, at least deep down, even if he denied it.

Yoh moved closer to his twin, who was still struggling to yank the heavy furniture away from the wall. Hao's expression was twisted into absolute rage. Even his eyes flared with their characteristic inferno. He was breathing heavily from the exertion on his body. Gently, Yoh rested his hand on his twin's left shoulder to try to get his attention.

"Please," he pleased gently," listen to me for a moment."

For perhaps the first time since Yoh had entered the room, Hao seemed to recognize him. His raging dark eyes locked onto his for the briefest of moments.

Yoh allowed himself a small smile.

Unfortunately, Hao didn't want to be reasoned with. His aggression redirected itself toward Yoh, making him snarl.

The last thing Yoh saw before he totally blacked out was a clenched fist flying toward is face.

****

Yoh awoke sometime later to a splitting headache. As soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately regretted it. The low light of early morning, however soft, pierced his hypersensitive corneas and caused his brain to fire off a painful pulse. The young shaman moaned in agony and shut his eyes. He hated headaches with a passion.

"You're awake, Chief!"

The loud voice caught him off guard, making him cringe.

"Not so loud, you idiot," scolded a second disembodied voice.

"Oh," the person said a good deal quieter. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be so loud."

It took Yoh a moment after the pain had subsided to recognize the awestruck voice as Ryu's. The other was Tokagero. Quietly, Yoh responded," I'm awake."

"Thank the Great Spirits," Ryu sighed. "That was a nasty punch Hao gave you, Chief. He knocked you out for a good eighteen hours."

"Mmm," he moaned. Still, he was reluctant to open his eyes. He didn't know where he was, but it was on someone's bed. "What happened after?"

An uncomfortable silence seemed to choke the head chef. He didn't answer.

Yoh's heart sunk into his stomach. Something unpleasant must have happened. "What?" he demanded. "What happened to him?"

"Well…" Ryu began unhappily. "No one was hurt, besides you, Chief."

"Can you shut the curtains, Ryu? Please. The light hurts my head."

He heard Ryu stand up before he finished his request and quickly draw the curtains. The light level lessened dramatically. Carefully, as he heard Ryu dit back down, he opened his eyes again. He still winced, but the room was a good deal more comfortable. Slowly, he sat himself up and looked about. The change in scenery almost made him gasp in shock. They were in Anna's room. He'd never been in here before.

"We had to move you here, Chief, because Hao had managed to demolish yours as well after he punched you."

"Oh." Yoh looked the significantly taller shaman in the eye and asked, "Where is he, Ryu?"

"…The…uh…Patch took him. Silva, actually."

_Oh, no._

"He actually didn't come to take him at first. He wanted to check to see how he was progressing and found us trying to stop him from destroying the house. You should have seen the fight he gave Silva! Gave him a black eye and ripped out an earring before he was bound with that weird oversoul snake-thing. You'd think otherwise because he's kind of short, but your twin's really strong even without his shamanic powers."

_No shit._

Tokagero appeared beside Ryu with a soft 'pop.' "You're forgetting something, Ryu."

Ryu looked as if he had left something out on purpose. By the way his expression went very grave Yoh didn't blame him.

"There actually is something else, Chief. It's worse."

"What?" Yoh asked, half not wanting to know.

"Just after Silva had caught Hao, he got a message on his pager from… my Lyserg."

Yoh's heart felt caught in his throat before he even knew the message. "Which said?"

"It said that Hao had killed you, Horohoro, Chocolove, Ren, and him. He technically broke that deal you and Hao had struck up with Chief Goldva." His continued quietly," Chief, they're going to execute him."

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Hmm… Did you see that coming?

Sorry for the cliffhanger… I like them way too much, but I felt that it would be good to break it off here before the next chapter. I'm not sure when it'll come out. Thankfully, I have my inspiration back and it won't be all too long of a wait. Till next time!

Sincerely,

SemperMemor


	12. Illumination

Chapter Twelve

Illumination

A/N-

New Hampshire winter weather isn't very beneficial to chapter updates, nor is decrepit, old laptops that tend to wipe your flash drives. This chapter isn't long as my other ones and it doesn't contain too much action, but it does explain a few things.

Sorry for the bad cliffhanger I left off in the last chapter... I hope the ending to this update makes up for it!

By the way, I think Silva is an awesome character. I don't hate him at all, despite the way I characterize him here as…

I do not own Hiroyuki Takei's _Shaman King _or any song by Nickelback.

* * *

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh stared, dumbfounded, at the pompadour-shorting shaman before him. His headache only made the inconceivable worse. At first, he couldn't believe his ears. The Patch were going to execute Hao? That was outrageous! He didn't do anything wrong!

Ryu must have noticed the aghast expression on Yoh's face. The older shaman winced and mumbled, "….Chief, he did kill you. The 'hell training' thing, remember?"

"What do we do now?" Yoh began in a slight panic."Did Silva say when it would happen? When did he leave? What time is it now?"

Yoh heard the shoji door slowly open behind him. He turned his pounding head around to see Anna standing fully dressed in the doorway, a packed bag in one hand. She looked at him with a rather annoyed expression on her face.

"Why aren't you dressed yet?" she asked nonchalantly. "The plane leaves in two hours."

"What?" he asked, confused. His head was still aching from last night and left him a bit slower than normal.

The blond itako threw the backpack at him, which he deftly caught. "_I'm_ not going anywhere. The family is staying here with me for now. _You're_ going to America to fix this mess."

ooOOooOOoo

Hao screamed in absolute outrage as he was tossed with all the care of a football into a dark cell-like enclosure within the deep confines of the Patch village. His body was bound in impenetrable oversoul cables, rendering his arms and legs useless against his taller, more muscular Patch descendant. He landed flat on his stomach with a dull 'thump' on the hard stone floor. It hurt like hell, but he wasn't about to give his captor the satisfaction of hearing him in pain. His only triumph was catching a glimpse of the dark purple blotch around Silva's cold eyes and his ripped earlobe as the shaman slammed close the heavy metal door. When it finally locked shut, the small enclosure was flooded in near complete darkness. A small window at the top of the gate allowed the dim light, or what there was of it, to enter the room.

A few moments later, the bonds surrounding his body were released. The sudden change in pressure to his limbs, although appreciated, was excruciating. Hao hissed as his cramped shoulders and knees went slack against the cold ground. He couldn't see his skin very well, but he knew there would be bruises forming.

The all-consuming rage that had taken over his mind had barely diminished over the course of the past several hours. He'd had plenty of time to try to calm himself down, but being taken from his home in a fury hadn't helped.

He couldn't see straight, not that it would matter too much now in the pitch black. The ex-shaman was shaking with raw emotion, gritting his teeth and hissing in blind fury. Hao spat and punched the ground in senselessness. He didn't know what else to do.

"Will you calm the fuck down?" growled an annoyed, slightly accented voice. For all he knew, it all could have been in his head. It probably was. "You sound like a rattlesnake that's been stepped on."

"Shut the fuck up!" he screeched back. "I didn't ask for your input!"

The voice sounded amused. "Pissy as always, aren't you?"

Hao snapped and started screaming again. "_Stop talking to me!"_

"Fine, _be_ a prick," the voice challenged, sighing. "Sooner or later you'll calm down and see how childish you'r---."

"I'm _not_ a fucking child!"

The voice sighed melodramatically. "I've had it with you and your foul language."

"Look who's talki---!" he derided angrily before the wind was knocked out of him and he was shoved into the cold, hard floor. Someone had barreled into his left side from the back of the cell. His face was pressed into the ground as a strong had held his wrists together while another pressed into the small of his back. Hao shrieked in indignation before he thrashed violently. The being above him was thrown off balance but quickly righted itself before he could get really get away. The correction had come a second too late, for his clenched right fist made forced contact with the person's cheekbone as it grabbed his left hand.

The hard blow elicited a pained yelp from the person above him. Hao took his chance and tried to back out of its reach before he was hit in a full-body tackle. He hissed and rolled around, kicking wildly as the person on top of him tried to pin him down. As he pulled his arm back to try to strike the person in the head again, a strong punch to the gut hit him dead-on. He gasped as the wind was forced out of his lungs. It hurt more than it should have.

"Stop this…nonsense," the feminine voice above him said between heavy gasps for air. "You're too stupid…to fight in the dark without an…oversoul and no sense of control over your own mind. Left your stomach…wide open, you _buffoon_. It's only been a month and a half. Can't even keep…my request to take it easy, can you?"

"Get off of me!" he demanded, spitting mad.

She grabbed him by the throat and held him down, her fingers squeezing his windpipe. It wasn't hard enough to actually choke him, but it was certainly uncomfortable enough to get his attention. "Calm down," she annunciated slowly into his ear. "You're acting like a child who can't get his way. I can understand that you're angry for being thrown into here, but fighting isn't getting going to get us anywhere."

"You started it!"

She slapped him across the face, ignoring the truth behind his statement. He winced slightly, hoping that she didn't see it in the pitch black. The bitch-slap stung like one of Anna's specialties.

"See? There you go again. I'm not your mother, but I'll be glad to teach you some manners. Now, sit up and calm_ down_. No need to punch your own cell-mate."

The pressure was released from his neck a moment later. He rubbed his throat and glared up at the doctor above him. Hao slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position once he felt the rest of her weight completely removed from him. Despite his severe dislike of being tackled, he felt as if a small hole had been punctured at the bottom of his anger reserves. His rage was fading, slowly.

"Better?" the Irish woman sighed. She had moved to sit before him. If he looked closely enough, he could see the outline of her silhouette. "You're not going to have another hissy fit?"

"Fuck you," the ex-shaman hissed. "I didn't ask to be thrown in here."

"From what I've heard, you did. Throw a fit the size of California and expect not to gain attention? Attack Yoh and Silva? You're smarter than that, Hao."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I couldn't help it."

She snorted, laughing," Yeah, right. I'm more likely to believe that shrimp have suddenly gained the ability to sport metal limbs than that attempt at an excuse. I know you can do better."

He gritted his teeth and fell silent.

Clancy sighed. "You screwed up pretty bad. Murdered five people? Why on Great Spirit's green Earth did you do that when you knew it would get you killed?"

"They asked for it," he mumbled half to himself.

"Of course," she barked sarcastically," all the humans you killed asked for salvation into the afterlife."

"They did. Well, at least Yoh."

"Why would he ask for _that_?" the Irish doctor snorted. "I know you like killing, but him? After he saved you from dying, twice?"

"He wanted to be able to control one of the five elemental spirits," he explained slowly. He felt the heavy fog of his blind fury finally leave him, leaving a puddle of the usual negative emotions in its place. "So, I sent him to hell. The other four wanted to be able to do the same. Naturally, I complied."

She fell silent.

Something about her sudden speechlessness caught him off guard. She, in his little experience with her, wasn't prone to being surprised by much. He even thought she had said she was some sort of a clairvoyant at one point. Something like this certainly would have made itself apparent to her.

"What are you thinking?" Hao asked warily.

"…Why I'm in here."

He hadn't actually given that a thought. "Which is?"

She seemed to shake her head, for he heard the light swish of her hair in the near silence. "That's not all too important…well, it kind of is…but can I do something first before I explain that?"

"…Fine," the ex-shaman replied, cautious. "What do you want?"

He heard her get to her feet. "Stand up, please. I need the light of this window."

There really wasn't too much ambiance coming in through the tiny pane, but he could see her hand a bit better as she pointed to it. Hao carefully eased himself up onto his feet and moved closer to the hole.

"What do you want to see?" he asked.

"If only you were taller…," she mused, looking down at him. Hao frowned at her reference to his height. He could just make out the amusement in her blue eyes beside the window. A few things about her face had changed since they had last met, though. Her cheekbones were more prominent as if she hadn't eaten well in a while. Her skin was rather pale and her eyes were encircled in dark rings. Hao wondered how long she'd been in here.

Huffing, Hao did his best to raise his stature by standing on his toes. Once he did this, her hands cupped his cheeks. He twitched slightly at the contact, but cast it aside. The curious look in her eyes was more of a pressing matter than fussing about being touched by a woman.

She searched every inch of his face for something he didn't know. Her eyes carefully scrutinized everything; his eyes, nose, cheeks, lips, and skin. It didn't take her very long to find whatever it was. The doctor slowly began to grin with an unknown triumph before letting her hands fall back to her sides.

Flashing her white teeth, she asked nonchalantly, "How long have you been this transparent?"

The realization hit him hard. He hadn't been able to place the odd quality of his skin before, but now he knew what it was…he still had no idea what it meant.

Dr. Clancy noticed the recognition in his eyes. "How long?

"I'm not sure," he mumbled, disappointed.

"You weren't like this when I last saw you, although you were kind of pale then. I thought it was because you hadn't been out in the sun and all the stress you'd been through."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What does it mean? I've never heard of someone going transparent when they're alive."

"People don't…," she mused. Hao could hear almost hear the smile creep onto her face. "That's what makes your case so interesting."

"My case?"

She ignored his blatant question in light of her own. "Have you been injured since I last saw you?"

Hao thought about it for a moment. "My shoulder was dislocated at one point and I've been nearly castrated by Anna's foot."

"How long did it take for your shoulder to heal?"

"Not more than a day," he relented. "Why?"

"Actually," the woman sighed unhappily, "I'm not sure why that's happened. Rapid healing isn't normal without the help of shamanic influence, as you know quite well. I would have thought the opposite to tell you the truth. It must be a side-effect."

He didn't like the sound of that, but he hid his slight trepidation by questioning her coldly. "A side-effect of _what_, exactly?"

Hao saw her teeth flash in the gloom again. Her smiles were rather odd, almost creepy. "You haven't figured it out yet?"

"Figured _what_ out?"

She sighed and disappeared toward the back of the room. He heard her lower herself to the ground against the stone wall. "I only had to look at you to confirm my suspicions. If you haven't figured it out on your own, which you obviously haven't, you're gonna want to sit down for this. It'll probably come as quite a shock to you."

Hao felt like he'd been shut out of his own life. There had never been people who knew something about him that he didn't already know. It was unsettling for him. Slowly, and quite warily, yet at the same time almost excited, he followed her back into the pitch black of the cell. Hao easily found the back wall and slid down to lean against it.

"Does this have anything to do with your imprisonment?" he ventured quietly after she hadn't said anything for a long moment.

"It has _everything_ to do with it," she sighed. He heard the back of her head thump against the hard stone. "I'm in here because I figured it out before the Patch did. They didn't want me to tell you when they got wind of what I had discovered, so they threw me in here before I could come to Japan and tell you myself. They would have had a bloody field day if I had managed to get to you two weeks ago. Actually," Kathleen mused to herself," I'm surprised Silva threw you in here when he knew I'd talk to you about it."

"What did you _discover_ about me?" he asked a bit coldly. "Are you sure it's something I don't already know?"

Her tone sounded amused and slightly sad at the same time. "Trust me, if you knew, you'd _still_ be rolling around on the ground in screaming ball of fury. You'd be beyond pissed to know that they'd gone and locked _you_ up, of all people."

"Continue," he urged her bitterly.

"Well, you remember that Goldva mentioned that the Great Spirit had been acting up, correct?"

"I overheard Silva say that a few weeks ago."

"Well, at least you know that much," she sighed in relief. "It's been uneasy, sort of like it's anxious or upset. Why do you think that it would be doing that?"

"An imbalance in nature, I suppose," he muttered. "Human interference, perhaps. They've done more harm to the Earth in the past few decades than ever before in the history of the planet."

"That's true, too," she admitted. "But what about severe weather changes?"

"I guess so, but it would have to be very drastic."

He could hear the laughter in her voice. "How has the weather been in Funbari Hill?"

"Rain and thunderstorms, mostly. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"And the surrounding countries? What about China?"

"I've heard of… bad earthquakes, fires, and…blizzards. Come to think of it, it was the middle of summer when I went back to Japan and it was freezing when I got off the plane."

"What were you feeling when you got off the plane?"

"Excuse me?" he growled, looking at her in the darkness. "How was I 'feeling?'"

"Yeah, emotion-wise," the Irish woman affirmed seriously. "Happy? Probably not. Anxious? No. Cold, perhaps?"

He blinked as the connection slowly came to him. "Cold, yes. I wasn't thrilled with going back to my brother's accommodations. I felt…bitter."

"How were you at the time of the earthquake?"

"Pissed," he sighed. Hao leaned his head against the cold, slightly damp stone.  
"I had a migraine after I got into an argument with Anna."

"And the torrential downpour I heard about the night before I called you?"

Hao didn't answer right away. He didn't really want to despite her gentle tone at the last question. "I…," he began quietly. It was hard to actually get the words to come out of his throat. "…I was……crying."

"Yeah."

"So the rapidly changing weather is somehow tied to _my_ emotions?" he asked, slowly getting the strength back in his voice. But by the way he thought this conversation was leading, he was beginning to think that he might loose it again.

"Your emotions are partly tied to the Great Spirit," she explained, "which is unhappy, and is causing the bad weather conditions depending upon how you feel. Only your emotions are magnified as they pass through it."

"Why would the Great Spirit be unhappy? I only stole it for my own power. Why are _my_ emotions attached to it?"

"You know perfectly why, buffoon," she nearly hissed. "You're not that stupid. Use that Mensa-level brain of yours for once."

Hao groaned in frustration.

The doctor poked him in the shoulder. "Ah… You don't want to sound like an idiot for thinking it, right? Too good to be true for you?"

"No…"

"Then say it."

Hao did nothing. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction that she was right.

"Suit yourself," she chided. Hao heard her back slide against the wall as she reclined into a somewhat comfortable position. "I'll leave you to your own. Talk to me when you come up with something."

"…"

"You _know_ you want to say it. It'll feel good after going so long without hope."

His anger button pulsed obnoxiously. "Shut _up_."

"No. Just say it."

"Do you want to fight again?" he threatened.

"You know I'd just kick your ass again," the woman laughed lightly. "This is getting off topic. Why won't you just come out and say it?"

"Because I'm not the Shaman King," he ground out miserably. "Is that what you wanted me to say?"

"Yes, I did want you to say that," she mocked sweetly. Her voice almost shook with suppressed laughter. "But you right. You're _not_ the king."

" That's it?" Hao hissed, enraged. "You've been leading me around to get me to say that? No surprise that I didn't have a clue about, not even a jibe? There's nothing that you wanted me to figure out? There's _nothing_? _That's_ all you wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Do you get some kind of sick, twisted pleasure out of making me…," he struggled angrily for the right word,"…desperate?"

"No, not really. I'm just trying to make a point."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"My point is that you're _not_ the king. At least, not right now."

Hao ground his teeth together. "That's overstating the obvious, _again_."

"You were for about five minutes."

"Yes," the ex-shaman admitted, wincing inwardly. "I was."

"But the king can't be a living being. He must be dead in order to truly become a god."

"That never was much of an issue. Dying, anyway," the long-haired teenager reminisced, forgetting the conversation for a moment. "It's not so bad."

"Are you getting my gist, though?"

"That I would have died?"

"Yes. You would have either bled to death from the fight had your twin not saved you or your heart would have stopped beating from the Great Spirit's influence."

Hao's eyebrows narrowed. "I'm clearly still living, though." He turned to the doctor beside him despite the complete lack of light. "If that's true, I should be dead. Why am I alive?"

"I'm not entirely sure to tell you the truth," she sighed. "I don't know at all. The only thing I do know is that your powers were severed from you when Yoh sliced your chest open and I don't even know how or why that happened. That, maybe, stopped the Great Spirit's influence from killing you right there and then. Quite an oddly coincidental interruption.

"But you're still dying," She muttered. "Technically, we all are, but you're slowly being pulled into the afterlife by the Great Spirit at a much faster rate than the rest of us. It couldn't be completely stopped from taking you back.

"The Great Spirit isn't content," Kathleen said solemnly," because it's king was taken away from it. It wants you back at any cost. It's slowly draining the life out of you to do just that. That's why, I'm guessing, you're starting to turn translucent. So as soon as you're dead, you're king. Your powers should return as well, but that's just a guess. Simple as that. Cruel, but simple."

Hao's eyes suddenly sparked in the dim with an unusual inner flame until they ignited and burned with an inferno that had been suppressed for far too long.

"I don't know about you, Hao," the Irish doctor laughed bitterly," but I'm pretty sure that the Patch weren't thinking too well when they sentenced you to death."

If the light had been better in the dark cavern, the Irish doctor would have seen a decidedly wicked grin slowly creep across his face.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

It feels so good to tie loose ends together like that!

Props go to 'Angel of 513' for the 'tantrum the size of California' metaphor. It was in his review and I really liked it...

Shrimp with metal limbs? Come on, that's absurd! *Is shanked with an automail arm weapon*

Till next time,

SemperMemor


	13. Flight

If Today Was Your Last Day

Chapter 13

Flight

A/N:

has been having an issue with converting uploaded files into readable material, thus the longer wait. It's not just me. I'm not intentionally lying when I send PM's saying that it this would be up a certain night and it never ends up happening. Dumb technology. It was done yesterday night! Gah!

Anywho, I'm back again with a new chapter! My new Macbook Pro I bought for college and the end of high school finally gave me the inspiration I've been waiting for to continue this story. Please, enjoy.

On, ah, another note… I realized I made a pretty bad mistake when I was re-reading the series in English. In the manga, Anna is really not Asanoha's soul reincarnated. I don't know how I missed this, but for all intents and purposes, Anna will remain Hao-mama in this story. It won't make a huge difference either way, but I thought I should make it clear that she is, in fact, not Asanoha despite the similarities.

This chapter is shorter than my others because I didn't feel like cramming everything into this one. Expect the next one to be beefier. I don't think that's a word, but whatever. :D

I do not own Hiroyuki Takei's _Shaman King _or any song performed or created by Nickelback.

* * *

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh leaned back against the cold stone wall and stared up at the ceiling in frustration. He couldn't really see it in the dark interior of the prison-like room, but he didn't really care. The aggravated emotions pulsing through him were almost alien in their nature. Perhaps last time he'd felt like this was when he'd fought those few Hao months ago.

"Stop your brooding," Anna demanded somewhere in the dark abyss to his right. "You're only wasting energy."

The young shaman didn't respond immediately. She was right. It was a wasted effort in letting his emotions get the better of him. He mumbled, "hmm," and straightened himself against the wall. Still, his eyes never left the blackness above.

He and Anna had faced nothing but cold stares when they had finally arrived in the Patch's sacred village after a long flight from Japan. The native villagers retreated into their own homes, offering no sort of guidance to where they were to go. Thankfully Yoh had memorized the layout of the ancient city on his many training runs, so they were not without some sort of direction to head in.

The Priests had been conspicuously absent. At least the ones he knew personally had not been present.

"Anna?" Yoh asked half-heartedly.

She answered in the same tone. "Yes?"

The memory of a large group of unfamiliar, hostile faces sprouted in his mind's eye. Their ceremonial garb was as clear as day, but their muted features were foreign to him. His thoughts cleared as the memory people converged upon him.

"The shamans who found us," he asked, "Did you know them at all from the tournament? Were any of them familiar to you?"

"No. I'd never seen them before," his fiancé said blankly.

"Huh."

"I doubt any of the Priests we know would have dared to touch me," Anna continued, almost laughing in contempt. "These new ones actually have balls."

Yoh didn't comment. Chances were that she would make some sort of jibe toward his manhood if he tried. He wasn't in the mood to argue the finer aspects of inter-marital subjects.

He attempted to make sense of how long he'd been trapped in this cell instead. Ten minutes or ten hours could have come and gone already, so slow felt the passage of time. It had been around mid-day when he had been caught….

"We're getting out of here," Anna said suddenly with a tone of finality he had no right to challenge. The slight whoosh of moving air brushed his cheeks as he heard her stand on her feet. "I've had enough of waiting around, locked in this room like we're some kind of animalistic criminals."

"How?" Yoh asked, wincing in anticipation of a painful hit to his face. "They took my katana and Amidamaru's tablet. Furiyoku alone won't break that door."

The blow never came. "You won't need them," she said.

He suddenly felt a wave of foolishness wash over him. How could he have forgotten? Well, maybe forgotten wasn't the word, for he did have memory of his training with Hao. A momentary lapse was more like it.

"Ah, never mind, Anna."

"Right."

Yoh managed to get himself to his feet in the dark. Maneuvering in darkness wasn't so hard. He'd done it for a straight week in the past. This made that experience feel like a piece of cake.

As he walked over to the door and laid his palms below the small window, a momentary feeling of doubt picked at the edge of his mind. What if the wall wouldn't budge? He hadn't exactly practiced with hard stone before; just packed sand. The principle should be the same. Just kick up the power level. It shouldn't be all that hard to do, right?

"You may want to stand back," he told Anna. Laughing nervously, he added, "I'm not too sure what will happen."

She moved closer to him until her voice came directly behind his right ear. "You could blow up the whole building and cause an earthquake, but the safest place to be would be with you."

It may not have been apparent to anyone else, if there were in fact others in this cell with them, but that little compliment (Or was it not one? He didn't care) meant something coming from her. He smiled, but in the dim he doubted she could see it.

Anna's mood changed. Maybe she didn't want to dwell on what she had said out of embarrassment. Maybe she was just impatient. Or both.

"What are you waiting for?"

Yoh shook his head slightly and did as she had asked. His mind was soon pinpointed elsewhere. The echo of her sharp tone slowly melted away and all of his focus went into what he was trying to accomplish.

Recalling what his twin had told him was relatively easy. The Furyoku energy flowed more or less willing from his being, down his arms, and into the cold stone as he would if it were living. Despite having mastered this concept not too long ago, it was still kind of strange to him to think of the stone as being alive. Technically, according to Hao, it was.

He hoped it was just the different material he was working with and not his own incompetence that was causing a lack of movement from the wall before him. Strange how the last time he had tried this that it only took a little amount of energy to accomplish. He wasn't totally drained by the time he was beginning to become frustrated, but the drain was certainly significant. Try as he might, it still didn't budge.

"Is something wrong?" Anna asked from behind him.

Yoh gave it another try before answering her. In slight frustration, he is the stone with more furiyoku than he had intended.

"Yeah," he said, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't know why nothing has happened."

"Try it again."

Yoh shook his head. "I've used more than half of my furiyoku. It should have been almost effortless."

"What's the door made of?"

"Some kind of stone," he said."

"I know that, Yoh."

"I think its weathered sandstone," he ventured. "Maybe shale." He placed his hands against it again and felt the stone. "I don't know. You think that would have something to do with it?"

"Probably. Different densities…."

Her voice was droned out as he became aware of a slight vibration beneath his fingertips.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it toward the wall so that she could feel the same thing. Yoh thought she may protest, but she remained quiet and rested her palm along the cold wall.  
"Did you feel that?"

A low, angry rumble passed beneath their feet. Its magnitude grew as it moved away from them. He thought he heard a few shouts of panic beyond the door.

"_Earthquake!"_

Beside him, Anna's voice turned bitter. "How much furiyoku did you say you used, again?" she asked.

Another rumble passed beneath their feet, much stronger than the last. It shook the walls this time, rattling the small bars on the window.

"Do you really think I caused an earthquake?" he asked, somewhat amazed. It may have sounded strange, but in the spur of the moment that fact was rather awesome. To have created an earthquake…

His mental rambling was cut short and he felt another quake. Something gave beneath the cell, almost like something collapsed. It's vibration passed through his chest. His vision blurred. An adult woman's laugh echoed down the length of the hallway. Others, including what may have been two younger children, shrieked.

"We need to get out of here," Anna said with finality. "This place is going to collapse."

"How, exactly, are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before. How idiotic of me…" Anna muttered under her breath. Yoh heard glass beads clinking against each other as they were removed from around her neck. He couldn't see anything, but he felt the room become a good deal more crowded. A large, flat piece of spiritual glass pressed against his back. He felt something squirm and rotate under it. Yoh's spine crawled as he moved away from it. Zenki's low growl followed another tremor in the earth.

"Now _you_ stand back," she commanded of him.

He had barely enough time to get out of the way before the door was completely decimated in a loud boom and flying stone. Hao's old familiars stood just beyond the doorway, shrouded in dust and dim light and rolling their faceted eyes back toward Anna like obedient dogs.

"Good," Anna said stoically. She turned to look back at Yoh. "Let's get moving."

He took the lead and dashed out of the cell as another tremor shook the area with a malicious, roaring force. The walls shook violently as did the heavy doors on their iron hinges. Cracks began to appear in the fine rusty-brown stone. Yoh couldn't see anything down the hallway, only a bend at a 90 angle to the left. The red and blue familiars took the rear position to guard their backs.

A dozen doors lined the hallway with six to each side and one at the end where they had been. The dust-filled dim light filtered into each of the cells from the small windows near the top of the doors. From what he could tell by glancing into each of them as he went by, they were unoccupied.

Anna pushed past him and made toward the end of the hallway. "Come on, there's no one in these cells. We need to go!"

Yoh almost took her word for it. Just as he was running toward her to leave, her heard the same female laughter from before coming from the second to last cell of the right. He skidded to a halt and ran back, nearly jumping to try to see into the cell.

"Who's in there!" he yelled over the roar of another quake.

"_Who else would be stupid enough to get arrested?_" she replied, her bruised face popping into view.

Yoh didn't know whether or not to be thrilled or horrified to see Dr. Clancy here. Happy that she was a friendly, familiar face or appalled that she was imprisoned.

Anna appeared beside him with the demons. The doctor's face disappeared in time for them to wrench the door from its hinges before she returned in the gaping hole.

"Thank you very much, Anna," she said, smiling. "I appreciated that."

"What happened to you?" he asked, referring to both her dark, bruised nose and presence here in the Patch's prison.

"Your brother's doing," she said nasally, pointing to her nose. "The rest can wait. Let's get out of here. Your earthquake has already started to crack the foundation in the lower floors."

"Are there any others in the cells?"

"No, I was the only one left. Follow me!" The Irish woman began to run out of the hallway and around the corner. She glanced back at them and beckoned.

"And Hao?" he asked, starting after her. Anna followed beside him, keeping the same pace as him. "Where is he?"

"He'll be fine," she told him once they caught up. "He's not here."

A wave of relief calmed him down significantly. He was worried that he would have been too late to do anything. "If he's not here, then where is he?" Yoh asked.

She gave him a hard look before her eyes traveled upward and widened. She yanked him by the shoulder to the other side of the hallway. A large chunk of rock fell from the ceiling and cracked apart on the floor, sending shards across the weathered stone like knives. "I'll explain when we get out of here! Now, _move_!"

The doctor seemed to know where she was going. He was glad for the help. The maze of hallways in the ancient stone structure seemed random and indistinguishable. Right, left, dodge a falling door, another left, and up several flights of stairs later and his head was spinning.

A tremendous grating sound resonated as they skidded to turn yet another corner. The floor felt like it was tilting to the left a bit. If it hadn't made them stop, the sight of a group of the odd Priests running toward them at the other end of the long hallway would have.

"Ops," the Irish woman said, freezing in her shoes. She glanced at Yoh and Anna, then at the five men, and then over her shoulder. Looking behind her, she said, "Come on, this way! Quickly!"

Yoh didn't have to be told again. He could have stayed and fought, but with the ground literally falling beneath their feet, there was no time. With Anna, he ran after her and to the right.

"How close are we to getting out of here?" he asked quickly.

"Now," she said, stopping long enough to wrench open a door. Bright desert sunlight blasted his corneas, temporarily stunning him. He couldn't see what was outside, but he felt a strong grip clasp around his wrist and yank him yet again in her direction. Yoh braced himself to readjust his balance, but he was met with nothing but the feeling of warm sunlight, a strong breeze, and a rushing feeling of suspended animation.

It was no wonder why; he realized as he opened his eyes again, that he felt those things. The ground was more than a hundred meters below him and approaching fast. They had jumped from an oddly placed door at the top of a cliff. Yoh managed to glance back up at the Priests. They seemed awestruck, but hesitant to follow.

"Hahahaha!" laughed the doctor. She was a few meters below him, laughing like a little kid. Maybe she _was_ a tad crazy, like Hao had said. "I love this feeling!"

Yoh was just about to nonchalantly ask how they were going to stop their imminent impact with the earth before a giant Mariachi skull appeared above him. At first he was severely confused. It seemed eerily familiar.

His back hit something painfully and giant fingers, belonging to the skull he presumed, enclosed protectively around him. He could see Anna was caught a good deal more gently by another giant being. This one appeared to be a black mechanical angel. He didn't see where Dr. Clancy went.

Before he knew it, he was deposited on his feet at the bottom of the cliff. He craned his neck up to the door he had fallen out of. One of the skeleton's massive hands had completely demolished the door and possibly the Priests. All that remained was a large crater and dust.

Anna appeared beside him not more than a minute later.  
"Did you have any knowledge of this?" she said, gesturing to the giant oversouls. He had never seen her face show so much confusion before.

"Nuh-uh."

He looked around in surprise. The doctor was busy petting some sort of white dragon-like oversoul a good distance away. To her right was a misfit group of shamans ranging from a massive man in heavy football garb to a wild redheaded girl with a witch's broom.

Two more were slowly dismounting the giant ones and staring at him with blank expressions. One was garbed in a vibrant Mexican poncho with a small guitar clasped in his hands. The other was a very tall man in a long black trench coat. He had a colt gun in his right hand.

"Yoh-sama?"

The tiny girl's voice came from below him. He looked down to see a small girl looking up at him with huge brown eyes. Her fuzzy afro dwarfed the rest of her body, which was covered by a small orange poncho not unlike the one Hao used to wear. Yoh couldn't help but smile at her.

She seemed to take that as a good sign. The little girl grinned happily. "Opacho is happy to see Yoh-sama."

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

Whew! I was beginning to wonder how I would do this chapter. I knew the start and where I wanted to end it, but nothing in the middle. Most of this was impromptu, but I like it enough nonetheless.

Sudden ending is sudden, but there's too much stuff going on in the next chapter to add anything else. Otherwise, it would be like reading a thick book. Which, by now, is probably what has happened if you've read all of the chapters to this story. Lol

For Opacho's sake, please read and review!

Till next time,

SemperMemor


	14. Back to Square One

If Today Was Your Last Day

Chapter 14

Back to Square One

A/N:

I've been busy getting my life, and belongings, in order for college. It's been hectic and exciting in all the sense of those words.

The fact that I've been writing like fucking _mad_ on an RP site I recently joined, Sekkai: Fractures, didn't help getting this chapter cranked out sooner. If you love dragons, writing, and making interesting plots with others in a highly original fashion, I highly recommend checking it out. It's not exactly great for procrastination, though. I'm there under the same username, so feel free to drop a PM or chat with me if you're interested. :D

On a slightly better note, I've finally planned out how I want to end this story. It's actually done, which may or may not be a good thing in the eyes of you guys. I'm relieved and sad; relieved that I'm finally drawing close to a long project that's taken up much of my past year and sad that it's going to end.

This also means I have narrowed down how many chapters are left after this one: three. This chapter is shorter than I had originally planned to make room for a certain scene I'm rather excited about. There's a whole lot for me to fit into these puppies and makes it a tantalizing challenge. I promise, however, those three will be the best things I've written. ;)

I do not own Hiroyuki Takei's _Shaman King _or any song performed or written by Nickelback.

* * *

ooOOooOOoo

"Opacho is happy to see Yoh-sama," said the little girl, smiling with all the righteous innocence of her youth.

Yoh didn't know how else to respond but say, "It's nice to see you, too, Opacho."

Anna's eyes turned a bit cold as she looked down at Opacho. The recognition was there, but she didn't seem to be able to recall who she was. "Who is she?"

"She was on Hao's te-," Yoh began.

"She was close to Hao," Kathleen cut him off. She turned around from the white dragon spirit she had been petting and began to walk back toward them. With a swift flourish of her hand, the glittering beast evaporated and returned to the small stone tablet sticking out of the pocket of her jeans. "Well, she was as close to him as anyone could have been."

"And how would you know that?" challenged Rachist angrily. His tall, dark frame dwarfed the short Irish woman as he approached her.

Anna barged into the conversation, her demons popping up behind her like protective gargoyles. "Would you two mind waiting until we got to somewhere safer? If you think the Patch haven't forgotten that the three of their prisoners have escaped, you're a fool."

"You're right," the doctor said after a moment's pause. "Even if all of us fight at once against them, we're no match. Those five new cronies have the Great Spirits as their guardians."

Rachist seemed to Yoh like he wanted to hit both of them. His fists were balled, but he seemed to let it go after glancing in the direction of her lower stomach. "Where do you suggest we go?" he asked of Anna.

"Anywhere safe. Do you have a base?"

His gaze turned colder. "Why should I take you there?"

She glared back. "If you're unprepared to take us there, why did you save us?"

He gritted his teeth. "That's a complicated subject."

"Would you mind?" Yoh asked carefully. The uncomfortable tension in the conversation was palpable. "Please? I'm your…" he had to force himself to say the odd word," master's brother. I don't think he wanted me to be killed by the Patch."

A pregnant silence filled the air for a time. "I have no problem bringing you and your fiancé. However, I dislike the idea of having strangers in our place," he huffed. "It's _this_ one," Rachist jutted a thumb toward the doctor," that I don't trust. How do I know she won't try to kill me when I turn my back?"

"I'm a doctor," she said angrily. 'I wouldn't try to kill anyone."

"I don't know that," he repeated. "And my companions don't know that. Their safety comes first in my book, not yours."

"So you want to bloody leave me to fend for myself against those new Patch cronies?" she demanded cynically. "Those five have the Great Spirits. Even _you_ wouldn't last against them."

An uncomfortable silence passed over the leader of the Gumi's. He hadn't realized that she had been referring to _those_ particular spirits earlier. "They're using the Great Spirits?"

"That's not all, sparky!" she barked. "Not only do they have your master, the most powerful shaman this world has ever seen, they have the Great Spirit and _man_, is it pissed off."

The doctor deflated after the echoes of her harsh voice stopped ringing. In a more calm voice, she offered, "I could help you get him out of there."

"How could you?" Peyote asked, finally piping in. "You're just a shaman doctor."

She shrugged, not really denying the plain truth. "I've had my fair share of spelunking in the Patch's precious caverns during my free time. They're not the most watchful of folk. That is, until you get near the gate that leads into the Land of Stars."

"Clancy can help Opacho get Hao-sama away from Goldva?" the little girl asked.

She winked at little girl. "I'll try. But first, we need to get to somewhere safe."

Opacho brightened immensely. "Opacho will take Yoh-sama to camp. Clancy can come, too."

Rachist shoved his face into his palm. Being outmaneuvered by a four-year old was not high on his bucket list, nor did he feel that it was in her place to do so. "Opacho, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

She looked up at the taller man with no concern in her eyes. "Opacho does not hear bad things."

Yoh wondered what she meant by that, but didn't dwell on it. The remaining members of Hao's former troupe were beginning to come closer. The way they looked at him was rather eerie. It was as if they were looking through his soul.

Peyote stepped forward from their ranks. He asked the girl, "You are sure?"

"Opacho does not say things Opacho does not mean," she said sweetly.

"Fine," Rakist eventually said, grudgingly. He beckoned to Yoh and Anna just as the archangel oversoul materialized behind him. It reached down one of its behemoth hands and "Come with me, you two come with me."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Excuse you."

Peyote stifled a laugh, witnessing his black-clad superior's face turn rather smug.

Rakist didn't turn around while he spoke. "Just because I've taken Opacho's advice doesn't mean I have to like it, nor must I comply like an innocent lamb. You've got your own means of transportation." His oversoul gently lifted him and his two passengers back up.

"Póg me hón," she hissed.

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh's eyes widened in shock when the doctor finished her recount of events. He stared across the circle they had made around the burning campfire. "He's the Shaman King?"

"Yes," she said, leaning back on the rock she we perched on. "He plans on taking the throne when they execute him."

They were all arranged around a large campfire in the dark depths of a forest. The sun had long set below the horizon. It had taken them the better part of an hour to get there; Rakist having forgotten where is was after months of abandonment. He had been surprised it was located so far away. Then again, he was also not surprised to know that Hao liked to teleport whenever he needed to. It was dark and secluded, virtually hidden by the protective barriers that had remained untouched after the fire shaman's loss of power.

The news of Hao's not-so-helpless situation both relieved and stunned him. He'd noticed the freaky weather, but hadn't connected it like the doctor had. It was what Hao had wanted all along and now that he was…better…Yoh didn't think he'd have to worry too much about what his twin would do.

"Hao-sama is king?" Opacho asked.

"He will be, soon, I suspect…" Her voice, however, did not posses the most positive tone Yoh had heard from her.

"What's wrong?" he asked tentatively.

She frowned miserably, only made worse by the dark shadows the fire's glow cast against her pale skin. "He told me to ask you to do something."

"Oh, good God," Yoh said immediately. "He wants me to be the one to kill him, doesn't he?"

"No."

He relaxed somewhat. "By all means, fire away."

Clancy paused, saying after a moment, "First of all, he doesn't know about this. I wiped his memory of what he asked me to tell you at his request. Otherwise, he didn't think it would work."

"Okay..." he said, trying to follow her.

She looked at him with a pained glint in her eyes. "When he kills you, he wants you to find his mother."

ooOOooOOoo

The rhythmic whirring and churning of the Great Spirit filled the Land of the Stars like white noise. It was both comforting and ridiculously annoying. Birds roosted in the surrounding forest abruptly squawked in surprise at a sudden cry of pain, leaping aloft in fear. The temperature skyrocketed to a blistering heat within a small, isolated area at the base of the Great Spirit.

"_Shut UP!_" Hao screamed at the swirling monolith before him. The raw sound did absolutely nothing in terms of what he wanted. It only made his own situation worse, his throat beginning to ache from the repeated yells.

Even the place they had so lovingly decided to move him was mocking with the sheer irony of it all. At the end of the long, winding path through the thick celestial forest, past the gates, and up the long flight of ancient stone stairs was the platform he had taken Yoh's soul. The throne reserved for the Shaman King sat dead center in the idyllic circle of sculpted columns.

He was the king, and this was his rightful throne, but they didn't know that yet. The Patch had reserved him this blessed spot for a far more sinister reason altogether. He hadn't known what had given them the idea for this type of torture, but he knew they had him pinned like a doll. They did, too, after the first experiment.

_Damn them to the depths of Hell!_

Hao's face was distorted in unconcealed agony, bent over, his mahogany hair falling about him like a veil. His wrists, legs, and hips were chained to the to the solid stone via a binding oversoul. The ex-shaman's dark brown eyes were nearly shut, trying to block out the light before him. He wanted out, he wanted the pain to go away, but most than anything else, he wanted to _die_.

However, they didn't seem to think that he needed that treatment just yet.

His head was pounding brutally with the worst headache he had ever experienced in his thousand years of life and death. It wasn't a normal headache at _all_, thought he desperately wished it were. They would pale in comparison to this beast.

It was all due to the _Reishi_. Any normal shaman wouldn't have flinched if they were sitting where he was. The last time he had been here, there had only the faint murmuring in the back of his mind. The difference between then and now was drastic; like fire and ice.

The Great Spirit hadn't been looking for him, or any king, last time. It was, now, and he was so _close_ to it that it could almost touch him. It even bent slightly at the middle toward the platform, pulled by an unnatural attraction. Now that he was back, mentally unprepared for what could happen, it was a totally different story.

Hao felt faint and weak against the impossible onslaught of voices. His breathing had become ragged with pain and exhaustion from the length of time he had been exposed to the Great Spirit.

He had been unsure of the _Reishi's_ ultimate disappearance after that rainy night. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself, but it had never really left him. It had only become muddled. It had become easier to ignore, so he had done just that.

Hao gritted his teeth. The pain was crippling, debilitating, and inescapable. There was nowhere to run, no way to shield himself from it. Only blinding misery. What was more was that this pain wasn't even his biggest issue.

Shortly after Hao had been incarcerated with his former doctor, a sort of _nagging_ began to build somewhere at the edge of his consciousness. It came from within him, from the black of negative emotions, growing in intensity and size.

He tried to make a barricade around himself from both attacks, ignoring it almost completely. The voices became overwhelming like a tidal wave, overtaking the protective bubble, completely encasing him. The more sinister nagging poked, prodded, became enraged, and utterly _demanded_ to be unleashed.

Hao's eyes flashed open. He knew what it was; he knew what it would do. It had happened once before to him. Fear swelled within his stomach like a bad case of nausea. Not for his own safety, but, this time, for someone else.

A moment later, the internal struggle ceased for one heart-stopping second. Then, out of nowhere, the balance shifted slightly, and gave out.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

What? Did you think I was going to keep that boy all nice, sentimental, and emotional for my own personal amusement forever?


	15. Off With Their Heads!

If Today Was Your Last Day

Chapter 15

Off With Their Heads!

A/N:

Muahahahahaha! I'm back. |D

Once I got to college, my muse all but died for my fan fiction. This story isn't over yet, as I have said in the previous chapter, but I don't know when the last couple of chapters will be out. College hardly gives me time for myself besides Sunday mornings, which I am trying to take full advantage of for this. By this point, however, I have pretty much proved to you wonderful people that my proposed deadlines for these chapters are all but credible. D:

I have to thank all of you who have either written reviews for me or have contacted me in some way in the past. In the time that I have had to myself apart from college, I have gone back and read all of them once more. Your words have all been incredibly kind to me and toward this story that I started out of boredom waaaaaay back when. I am touched, and I would like to thank you once more.

Some of you may not like the beginning of this chapter. I have been blatantly hinting that it would be happening eventually (or at least I tried to do as such), so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise….hopefully. This chapter is also a little gory, but not horribly so (I think). Then again, I'm a pre-vet major and find almost nothing disgusting to me anymore. 0:

I do not own Hiroyuki Takei's _Shaman King_ or any song written and performed by Nickelback.

* * *

ooOOooOOoo

Goldva paced the length of the Shaman King's alter in a continuous circle, her cold eyes never leaving the throne at its dead center. A massive chieftain oversoul loomed behind her, its fists poised but not strained, as if she couldn't decide whether or not to just smash the stone chair and be done with it all. She slowly walked counterclockwise for the umpteenth time. Her small army of new priests stood warily by, not wanting to interfere with her assault. Great restraint could be seen on her hardened facial structure, the numerous wrinkles making the voluptuous valleys of her skin stand up like a fleshy mountain range. Coming around the right side of the throne, her eyes darkened purposefully, as if she had been saving the worst of her arsenal for the person chained there. The longhaired teen's face showed the reminiscence of sweat, but he had otherwise completely rid himself of any kind of indicator of pain. He stared straight ahead, not even glancing at her as she came within his peripheral vision.

The Patch Cheiftess stopped directly in front of the man and she turned her entire body toward him. Her eyes met his for the third time that morning. If she had not been expecting the inhuman stare glaring back at her, she might have paled.

His dark brown eyes were devoid of emotion, looking right through her. It was a complete flip from the day before, when they had been full to the brim with unadulterated hatred and agony. Now the ancient shaman's characteristic orbs were vacant, lifeless, cold, and _mocking_.

Hao's thin line of a mouth slowly morphed to a kind of half-smirk. There was no emotion behind it, almost as if the person behind the action had no recollection of how to feel and merely relied upon memory to make the expression.

"_What's wrong, Goldva_?" he asked monotonously. His eyes never left hers, the gaze never faltering, as they stared straight ahead. "_Why are you hesitating?"_

Her brows furrowed deeply. She said nothing and continued pacing as if absolutely nothing had happened.

_"Are you afraid?"_

Goldva gritted her teeth. Even avoiding eye contact didn't stop his mouth from flapping.

_"Do it. You know you want to_."

She tried to ignore the surmounting anger in her throat. Her vision hazed at his ridiculously ballsy attitude. It wasn't as if this were anything knew from him, but the fact that she had him, chained, and defenseless against any sort of attack and he was still mocking her was infuriating.

_"Kill me, Goldva."_

"Why do you want to die so badly?" she asked accusingly as she came back around the throne yet again.

Despite lacking any sort of light in his dark eyes, he managed to pull off an incredibly believable smile. _"I have unfinished business to attend to."_

"I see…"

_"You do not,"_ he said placidly in the same empty tone. _"For if you did, you would not be encircling me as if I were a caged animal ready to strike. I am as helpless as your precious twins."_

Goldva abandoned her circle and slammed her rough hands down on Hao's knees. She was barely any taller than seat of the chair, yet she completely ignored this fact. "What have you done to them!" she roared deafeningly.

He grinned awkwardly, not removing his sightless gaze. Hao actually hadn't done a damned thing to her pathetic whelp, but she didn't know that. _"Nothing bad, Chieffy. I promise."_

Goldva's expression went as slack as his own. She removed her hands and spun quickly on her heels, returning to the circle's edge. The Patch Cheiftess turned back to face him, this time her anger flushed full on her ragged face. "Damn you to hell, Asakura Hao," she hissed murderously.

The behemoth oversoul materialized behind her, its massive fists encased in a punching glove. Goldva gave a silent signal to it. It immediately loomed over the occupied throne and raised one of its hands, preparing to strike hard.

The last thing she saw of Hao's face was a dark, mischievous grin flash in the shadow of the Great Spirit. Her resolve faltered for the briefest of seconds. _Could it be...?_

Goldva saw the oversoul fist come smash the stone chair blazingly fast. A wet crunch was heard before the stone exploded magnificently.

She wouldn't leave it at that. No, she wasn't that much of a fool. The elderly shamaness stepped forward carefully to the edge of the resulting crater and peered down. There was no remaining body, not that she had expected there to be one. Not even his clothes had survived. The only thing left of her most hated nightmare was a large pool of dark red blood amidst the crushed stone. That was all that was left of Asakura Hao.

Goldva released a long-withheld sigh. An all-consuming relief washed over her.

_"Did you honestly think I would disappear just like that?"_

Her head snapped up in complete and total shock. The disembodied voice was everywhere and nowhere all at once. She spun around, looking for him. But I put up a chant to send him straight to the depths of hell! There's no way he could have-

_"Of course you though so, you fucking idiot."_

Goldva turned back to where the throne had been. Hao's transparent, pale ghost hovered ominously over the pool of his own blood. Gone was the vacant, lifeless expression. His eyes were burning, his mouth screwed up in an enraged snarl. He disappeared as fast as he had appeared, only to pop back intro existence not more than an inch from her face.

_"I'm offended!"_ he screeched. His brown, transparent eyes glared murderously. _"How could you be so stupid to think that I, me, you idiot, me,"_ he added by stabbing himself in the chest with his thumb over and over," _would just go 'poof! I am not a mere human, you arrogant bitch!"_

He shut his mouth just as hers dropped open in astonishment and fear. Gone was the pissed off demeanor to be replaced by something entirely different. Something...insane.

The ghost's form evaporated.

_"That's it,"_ Hao said quietly into her ear from behind. His voice was eerie, disembodied and livid at the same time. _"I've had it with you and your cronies. You are all going to die, but not before you see something truly...out of this world."_

Goldva whipped around to face him, but he was gone. Her priest guards rushed to her side, surrounding her, but the damage was done.

_"Say hello to your new Shaman King,"_ Hao's enraged, quiet voice wafted from above. _"It'll be the last thing I allow you to do."_

Their heads looked up in synchrony. Their eyes reflected the largest, brightest oversoul they had ever seen before. In a single flash of that magnificent weapon, all of them ceased to exist.

Hao crossed his arms as his first act was accomplished with a bang. His eyebrows furrowed as he removed his gaze from the wreckage of below off into the west where he felt a large group of shamans assembling together. How foolish of them to do so.

_"Where are you, little brother? Time to come out and play..."_

ooOOooOOoo

Yoh mulled the doctor's words over and over again as he continued to walk back to camp. His mind drifted back to their conversation last night.

_"He's going to kill me?" Yoh asked, floored at the notion. "Why would he do that? He knows better than to kill me!"_

_The Irish doctor looked exasperated. "He does, he does! But, he's got...a problem. It's...hard to explain as I don't really know the full extent of it."_

_Rakist leaned forward, listening intently. He was the only person still awake after the original story had been told. _

_"You know that he...lost his mind to some extent a thousand years ago? Not totally, of course, but he went a bit bonkers and completely changed his motives?"_

_Yoh nodded. "Yeah, his _Reishi_ took control."_

_Clancy looked truly baffled. "You knew that? Who told you?"_

_"Matamune, his cat, told me while I was training in hell." _

_"...I never knew he had a talking cat. But then again, he's a magnet for weird things." She still looked surprised. "Never mind me. I'm not used to people taking me off guard. I suppose that makes explaining this a good deal easier. But, yes, that happened. Now, follow me on this._

_"When we were imprisoned together," she continued, an anguished look entering her blue eyes, "The Patch, more specifically Goldva, started to expose him to the Great Spirit. Keep in mind that it's still angry at being separated from Hao. It contains the souls of billions of deceased people and billions of nature spirits, all of whom feel some sort of connection to the Shaman King. What do you suppose the effects of trillions of longing voices will have upon Hao if he still has the _Reishi_?"_

_Yoh was saddened by the news. "He still has it...," he said. "I thought...that by trusting others that it wasn't needed anymore? He told me it had disappeared the day after..."_

_"Well, he was either lying or the Reishi was weak enough for him to simply not notice it at that time," Clancy said, miffed. "No, it never really left him. At least it hadn't when I saw him last. When he 'snaps,' there's only one thing that I know of that will stop him."_

_"His mother...," Yoh sighed, finally understanding. _

_"He had me erase his memory of asking me to tell you to find her, or else he'd try to stop you."_

_"But why on Earth would he want to kill me in the first place? I mean, he doesn't have to..."_

_"Yeah, he does. He's convinced that when he finally... 'snaps' that the only thing he'll want besides total human annihilation is your soul."_

_Yoh drooped at the memory of what happened the last time Hao wanted his half of their soul. "Oh, God, not that again."_

_She managed a small laugh despite the horrific nature of the topic. __"When you do die, you need to scram and try to find her to prevent that from happening."_

_"Wait, won't he know that we'll be looking for her as soon as we come within 'mindshot?'"_

_"While you're alive, yes. He won't need the _Reishi _once he's dead. It'll be gone. The Shaman King hardly needs to read peoples minds."_

_Yoh's head spun. "Then why do we need to find his mother if he'll be cured of the _Reishi _when he dies!"_

"_Just because it'll be gone doesn't mean that he'll be a-okay and sane. It's an incredibly powerful ability that has contorted his mind against his will. Not many people that I know of could handle it for as long as he had and it's likely done some serious damage to his rational thinking. It's not like if you rid him of the attacker that action will automatically heal the wounds. You need something else. In this case, his mother may be able to shock him enough to make him come to his senses."_

"_Oh."_

"_You'll just have to try not to think about it. Once you're dead it won't matter. He'll know right away what you're planning on doing. Then he'll go right after you. So, to prevent your soul being devoured again and buy some time to find his mama, you need a distraction. A very powerful distraction. Have anything in mind?"_

_Yoh thought for a moment before an idea struck him. __"Do you think fighting him with the elemental spirits would work?"_

_"Yeah, it would, if you could convince your friends to die." __She smirked. "__Somehow I don't think they'd be too happy about throwing themselves in front of him like roast pigs."_

_"It wouldn't be the first time he's killed them to tell you the truth. I think they'd agree if I could talk to them beforehand."_

_The doctor stood up and stretched. "__I'll be back in the morning, Yoh."_

_He became confused. __"Where are you going?"_

_"To round up your buddies for slaughter, unless you have something else in mind."_

He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that he'd entered the temporary camp. Immediately, something flung itself onto his leg. He yelped in surprise.

"Yoh!" screamed the short blond teenager clinging to him. "What the hell is she talking about! I don't wanna die!"

"You have some serious explaining to do," growled Ren, staring at him angrily across the empty fire ring. He bristled and pointed at the Irish doctor, who was just standing up. "We were abducted by this arrogant woman and told we were going to become butchered meat. I will hear you out, but you better have a good reason for this."

Yoh sighed. This was going to take a while. He sat down with a huff and began explain the complicated situation to his friends. Their expressions showed that they were hardly pleased about it all.

He purposefully left out the information concerning his own plan to find Hao's mother. If they knew, they would be thinking about it. He could barely trust himself not to dwell on the subject, let alone worry about everyone else's thoughts. He revealed as much as could, though, and explained that they had to fight him in the afterlife to get his attention.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ren demanded at last. His face was screwed up in a curious mixture of anger, exasperation, and possibly a bit of confusion. "So what that doctor said was true? You really do want us to die again at your brother's hands."

He had not wanted his reasoning to come off as such, but it looked as if it had. "I…I didn't…" Yoh countered, defensive. After a moment, he deflated. "Well, yes. I don't see how else this situation is going to be resolved."

"I can see that," he retorted, miffed in the highest. "But it that does not change the fact that we are walking to our own deaths."

The tunnel to the king's throne was in horrible condition. The stone walls were cracked and encrusted with dust and cobwebs. It was ancient, clearly visible in the writing etched in stone.

Manta's eyes were huge, widened with a hefty dose of adrenaline. His breathing was rapid. Several glances of disdain were shot his way from the rest of the group, making him more nervous than he already was. "This is insane!" he shrieked at Yoh. "We're going to die! No, worse than that. Who knows what he's going to do to us?"

Yoh gently tapped him on the head and continued onward into the cave. "Quiet down Manta."

The doctor glanced back at them in the dim. "It's doesn't make much a difference whether or he screams or we tie a bandana around his mouth. Hao knows we're here."

"You're sure of this?" Chocolove ventured boldly. The humor in his voice had oddly died.

"He's the Shaman King. He knows everything," she growled. "He knows all of us inside and out now, from every strand of hair on your head to the very cells that line your stomach. Pity he's not putting himself to better use. What I wouldn't give for something like that…" She rambled off under her breath, uttering complaints about the future of medicine.

"Hey Silva," Horo-Horo asked. "How do we know which one of the Great Spirits we get?"

Silva didn't turn around to answer. "I do not know."

Kalim whacked him on the shoulder. "Would you ease up a bit?" he said defensively. "Hell, we've been protecting this area our whole lives. I don't like it either, but that doesn't change the situation."

Silva countered bitterly. "How should I know how the spirits work, Kalim? They're hardly predictable."

"You're missing the point, old friend."

"I understand what you're trying to say."

The ground shook something tremendous. It wasn't anything near an earthquake, but it was enough to take everyone off guard. Sand fell from the ceiling in a fine shower of minuscule granules.

"What the fuck was that?" someone growled. It was indiscernible who it was in the murky air.

"Sounds like he's growing impatient, but that's just my guess," Clancy offered.

Looking over at the two priests, she asked, "How close are we to the alter?"

"Not far," Kalim replied, shaking his cloak of debris. "About two hundred yards or so."

The realization took the group aback. The end was close, and they all knew that they were going to die. Hopefully, some wished, that the situation wouldn't have to come to that end. This _was_ the end. No turning back from this point forward. What person in their right mind would _want_ to die, anyway? The atmosphere took a grim turn. Even sound of breathing seemed like an intrusion.

"Two hundred yards, huh?" Yoh sighed. He pushed forward, past Kalim and Silva, and turned around. "I'm sorry I got you all into this mess. I never intended to get you all involved, but it unfortunately worked out to be that way. I'm sorry…"

"Do you honestly think that we would be following you to our deaths if we didn't want to," Ren scoffed, his upper lip curling abhorrently at the thought. "Sure, we're not the brightest bunch of people for flinging ourselves into the afterlife, but this wouldn't exactly be the first time that we have done it at Hao's hands." Similar muttering of agreements and faint nodding washed through the small band of shamans. Yoh opened his mouth to reply, but when he did speak, he was drowned out by an entirely different voice.

"_My hands? You tease."_

Yoh whipped around to face the disembodied voice. The owner wasn't visible, but the eerie tone continued to resonate throughout his mind as if it were a lingering plague. It didn't feel…pure, or even sane. With one collective, unspoken message, the team sauntered forward to the end of the tunnel.

Silva and Kalim, upon reaching the massive stone square sticking out from the top of the low ceiling, threw themselves against it in an attempt to hastily move it. The stone didn't budge at first, almost as if it were smashed in place. When the blockage finally did move, however, something went horribly, horribly wrong.

A wall of crimson rained down into the tunnel and splattered across the group.

The overwhelming smell of iron quickly and ultimately indicated it for what it was. No one needed clarification, nor did anyone attempt to move for a solid second or two of complete silence. Manta gagged after a moment. Immediately after void broken, as if released by from a crippling spellbinding, a forward surge of movement took the group up and out of the tunnel into the bright desert sunlight.

Across the circular altar, looking down upon them with a blank expression, the levitating ghost only smiled.

ooOOooOOoo

* * *

I know it's a rather sudden end to the chapter, but I decided to shift some of the meat it to the next one to give this chapter to you guys sooner. Fuck knows you've waited long enough for it. P:

If you are wondering about whether or not I am going to make this ending exactly like the manga, the answer is no. I have put too much time and effort into this story to have it end such a way. I am more creative than that (I think). However, that being said, there will be a few similarities mostly because I had this planned out before the manga even ended. It will stay that way.

As always, please review! I do not know if you know this, but I always respond to them! However, that only works if you have an account, as I cannot reply to anonymous people, sadly…. However, I appreciate any input into this, member or not to ! Your thoughts make me want to get this story out faster! :D


	16. The End

To my Readers,

Hello again. C: My, my, I haven't been on here in some time. :c Life in general has really kicked me in the behind, what with full-time college, work, and preparing myself for veterinary school in the upcoming years. D: It's been immensely hectic, but very rewarding since I graduated high school. There's quite like being on your own and having the freedom to do the things you wish to do with your life. x3

Unfortunately, I haven't updated to bring you guys entirely good news to the table. In short, I don't intend to continue with this fan fiction. :c It had no set plot when I first began and I've sense detached from it. I wrote it on the fly, without much thinking in the process and merely churning out what I thought at the time were decent steps in a continuing story. I know this information should have come sooner and for that I apologize. I've matured both physically and mentally since the commencement of this project and with it, grew to loathe my writing. I stopped entirely for some good time, refusing to even look at it, and all but abandoned it. When I eventually did muster up the courage to get back to writing, I sat there, stumped, unable to write more than a sentence. I thought that it would be best if I depart and I stand by my decision. If I had continued as I had meant to for the last chapters, it would have been terribly predicable more so than it had been. I don't think it hit me until one of you guys pointed it out in the reviews.

Regardless of this, I want to thank you for the lovely reviews that you people have written for me in the past. 3 They have helped me to improve immensely and gain courage as a writer to continue onto greater and better things. I was and still am quite humbled by your words. xD Thanks. 3

However, I am not entirely without somewhat good news. I might just have something in the works for the future. c: No promises on when it'll begin, though, but it will be quite different from my last project and probably not nearly as long. |D

By the way, if you guys haven't heard yet, I suggest that you check out this particular news post - .com/anime-news/2011/11/09-1/shaman-king-flowers-sequel-manga-launches-in-april If you don't know what "Flowers" is, I suggest reading this - /shaman-king/flowers/ , as scanned and translated by the lovely Mankin-Trad team. C: I'm not sure what to make of it, as I have…mixed feelings on the subject, but the possibility of a new or remake of the SK anime, while not certain, is…nice to think about. :B I just want more Hao.

It has been a pleasure. c:

~ Semp


End file.
